Conception to curtain in 24 hours

Author: Sara Jameson

At eight o'clock last Friday night, five playwrights, five directors and sixteen actors gathered in the Hepburn Zoo ready to challenge their creative ingenuity and alacrity. Twenty-four hours later, five fresh, creative and engaging plays were performed. The event, created and hosted by Caitlin Dennis '06.5, was officially Middlebury College's first "24 Hour Play Festival." The evening truly stretched the artistic limits of every participant and attracted the eager attention of an unexpectedly large and enthusiastic audience.

The playwrights, directors, and actors (who were each asked to bring a random prop) were divvided up into five theatrical groups. The playwrights had from eight o'clock Friday night until eight the following morning to compose their pieces, incorporating at least three of the props within their skit. When time was up, the plays were given to the different groups and the directors and actors proceeded to make the works their own. The turnout was tremendous. By eight o'clock Saturday night, the Zoo was packed with an extremely engaged audience. The plays not only exuded originality but held genuine creative merit as well.

The creative possibilities that resulted from the endeavor attracted a great amount of support. When asked how she came up with the idea, Dennis replied, "Theatre companies in New York and other cities hold events like this quite often, and when I first heard about the conceit from Alex Draper I got very excited and realized we could do that here, no problem. And that it would be perfect for 24 hours in J-Term." And so with an almost overwhelming amount of support, Dennis's event turned out to be an enormous success.

The five plays ranged greatly in thematic and emotional content, though most of the works employed comedic elements. Willie Orbison's '08, "Love and Purgatory" presented two oblivious dead lovers, stuck in purgatory, who grapple with their approaching sentence of eternity spent in either heaven or hell; Samantha Collier's '09 darker play, "Full of Stuffin," portrays the strained family dynamic of two sisters≠ - one unhappily pregnant, the other neglected - and a mother who chooses to ignore reality completely; Haylee Freeman's '06, "Deck the Halls" details the emotional journey of a woman driven literally off the walls by the fake and empty holiday season; Emily Feldman's '09, "The Scottish Play," presents three girls about to compete in an audition and their various tactics of success. Finally Lucas Kavner's '06 hilarious play, "Anywhere Air," depicted an airline designed to take its passengers to any random destination of the pilot's choosing and the four equally strange passengers who must come to terms with their own desires for suspense in their lives. Each play exhibited immense creativity and artistic merit - especially considering the time constraint. The comedic talent of the playwrights and actors were especially impressive, including the goofy, Tourettes-stricken flight attendant, Sally (Lisa Zaval '07) and the frumpy bookworm Helen (Dawn Loveland '09) who strips off her dowdy sweater to perform the techno version of her audition piece, "To BeÖOr Not To Be."

Most challenging and even rewarding to playwright, actor and director alike was the demanding time limit of the production. Most participants, however, responded favorably to such a challenge. "Writing under the time constraint was exciting because there wasn't time to censor impulses, and I think that was incredibly freeing," stated playwright Emily Feldman '09.

Actor Julia Proctor '06.5 shared the same sentiment, commenting, "I often over-analyze my character development since I have so much time to work out different options and choices, but I found it freeing to play around with options and then make a quick character choice and feel committed to the decision."

Actor Dawn Loveland added "One of the great things about being introduced with a script and performing it 12 hours later was that decisions had to be made so fast. We had to make choices and run with them, which resulted in spontaneous, natural moments that may not have occurred if we spent days working on the material."

One of the overarching sentiments voiced by the participants was the invaluable experience they gained from the exercise. "Writing in the 24 hours plays festival forced me to remember how collaborative the theatre process can be," commented playwright Feldman. "The actors and directors played a huge role in creating the tone of each piece." Director Leah Day '07 also voiced her new appreciation for the theatrical process: "This was an incredibly exciting and hands-on way of bringing together the rather vast and vivacious theatre department. I think everyone involved got a real sense of how plays are adapted from paper and brought to life which, in the context of the festival, was truly magical to watch."

It was not only the creative ingenuity that made this event so extraordinary, but also the incredible amount of audience support and enthusiasm that accompanied the festival.

"The most exhilarating part of the experience was seeing the huge turnout of people who wanted to see the show, and that magnitude of support lent a special energy to the evening," observed Feldman. "Not in a million years did I expect such a large turnout," marveled Dennis, "the Zoo was more full than I've ever seen it, way over capacity, and we still had to turn away over 50 people at the door. Many of them returned for the impromptu 10 p.m. show, but it's too bad not everyone got to experience the production. Even so, I'm really thankful we found an audience with this kind of production. It was a different kind of Zoo show - a lot of new faces in the audience, and that's always exciting. It just felt so wonderful to have a room full of support after 24 hours of really intense and dedicated work. It was electric, and I think we all could feel it."

Despite the pressure of the time constraint and limited resources, the festival was a rewarding experience for all who participated and especially for all who attended. "I had a great experience with the 24 Hour Play Festival," declared actor Ryan Hart '06, "The idea of being handed a script on the morning of the show seemed daunting, but I knew we had not only talented, but also (and probably more importantly in this case) highly-motivated writers, directors and actors involved. It was amazing; by the end of the second performance, it felt like we'd been working on the show for weeks." No doubt all audience members felt the same amazement at the plays' coherence and energy and the ability of the actors to perform so well after such little preparation. "I'm very proud of everyone," stated Dennis.

"We have a great group of artists here. I think this event is truly a testament to Middlebury theatre, and what talent and dedication can accomplish in a short amount of time. I hope that other classes continue the tradition and that this becomes an annual J-Term project."

Whether the festival becomes tradition or not, the show succeeded most importantly in exhibiting the collective genius of Middlebury students and their inspiring ability to challenge themselves.