Burgeoning theater tradition returns Students produced six plays in a day for "24 hours Play Festival"

Author: Justine Katzenbach

What happens when you put six playwrights, six directors and 16 actors all into the Hepburn Zoo with one mission at hand - to create, direct and produce six plays all within the constraints of a 24-hour period? Mission impossible, you ask? Not for these Middlebury College theatre makers.

On Jan. 4 at 8 p.m. the group of playwrights, directors and actors gathered into the Zoo for the grand kick-off of Middlebury College's second annual "24- Hour Play Festival." The process is simple - playwrights draw director's names from a hat, and then use the same procedure to pick their actors. With casts fully assembled, actors and directors scurry out of the Zoo, leaving playwrights equipped with their laptops and 12 hours and counting to provide six scripts by the following morning at 8 a.m. While no direct prompt was presented, playwrights, directors and actors were each asked to provide random props - which included, though not limited to: a bob haircut wig, a lobster hat and two bottles of NyQuil. The props, while not binding, offered some inspiration for playwrights as well as added to the absurdity inherent in all pieces.

Created last Winter Term by Caitlin Dennis '06.5, the event lived on this year thanks to Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki '08, who spearheaded the production. Tirrell-Wysocki said that he "had a blast acting in last year's festival, and it seemed like such an easy and quick way to give a lot of people an opportunity to get involved in some really fun theatre." The success of last year's "24-Hour Play Festival" assured that it had to happen again, according to Tyrell Wysocki.

When actors and directors returned to the Zoo on Saturday at 8 a.m., they were confronted with six uproariously comedic plays and 12 hours before opening night. The production opened with a bang in Willie Orbison's '08 "The Hotel Doppfelgang," a play directed by Dawn Loveland '09 about a man (Peter Hoffman '11) who arrives at a hotel in Germany only to find that its attendant (Dave Malinsky '11) is not only inescapable but also undergoes total identity changes at every turn. Malinsky took on each new character trait notably as he adopted accents from German to Canadian with ease and apparent accuracy.

Andrew Ward's '09 "MutantCullough," directed by Rishabh Kashyap '08, elicited the greatest audience response of the evening as the Hepburn Zoo shook from the laughter inside it. Casey Monahue '11 played a Middlebury College student who suffered from the irreparable consequences of failing to fill out his evacuation plan on Bannerweb. When nuclear attack struck, the boy was left with a permanent bob haircut. As he meanders around a McCullough dance party, he falls into a flirtatious conversation with Xian Chiang-Waren '11, only to discover that she, too, has been mutated by the attacks - eternally attached as a Siamese twin to her roommate Elizabeth Goffe '10. A story of love and growth, Ward helped his audience understand that, in the end, maybe there is a little mutant in everyone.

Beginning with The Baha Men's song "Who Let the Dogs Out" created an immediately comedic scenario in "Things I Look For When Choosing A Doctor" by Neil Baron '10 and directed by Leah Day '07.5. Doctor (Rachel Wold '11) fights against Veterinarian (Christine Chung '10) grappling over whether or not their patient, Mr. Wolf (Starrett Barry '09), is in fact a dog or a human. As the two doctors' debate grows evermore outrageously heated, they eventually lose all insight into what truly matters - dog or human, this patient is sick. Barry's heartfelt plea for medical attention forces the doctors to work together - fighting illness as one nondiscriminatory team.

Claire Graves '09.5 and Lilli Stein '11 prance around the room, singing loudly to Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone," discussing boys and painting their nails in Claire Groby's '08 "How to Find A Good Polar Bear" and directed by Maegan Mishico '08.5. The two cool older girls exclude Graves' kid sister Kim Ammons '11, who desperately wants nothing but to play a game of Mad Libs. As the friends embark in gossip about a date with a mystery man, Ammons enthusiastically fills out her game with extracts from their ridiculous conversation, unbeknownst to the two other girls.

"The Shanghai Shaman" by Alec Strum '08 and directed by Aaron Gensler '08 brought audience members on a wild journey as John Glouchevitch '10.5 attempted to poison Phil Ziff '10.5 with NyQuil through the help of his seemingly trustworthy confidant played by Oscar Loyo '10. A spoof on any film noir, the cleverness of the script derived from its details - such as Glouchevitch chain-smoking cigarettes galore and expelling haphazard French words, or saxophonist Ross Bell '10 providing improvisational musical accompaniment to create an even more pronounced murder mystery ambiance.

In Alexander Manshell's '09 "The Aquarium," directed by Himali Soin '08, Stephanie Strohm '08 mourns the loss of a love affair with her Professor of Poetry at the local community college. While Lucy Faust '08.5 listens attentively, her exasperation for her friend becomes increasingly apparent as Strohm asks her to recite the ridiculous poem that she wrote for her ex-lover. As the play evolves, the striking acting of the two women slowly reveals marked changes in their attitudes - Strohm becoming more headstrong, while Faust becomes more whimsical and romantic until finally, at the play's close, the audience is struck with a skillfully maneuvered, yet still subtle, role reversal.

To say that the "24-Hour Play Festival" was a success is an understatement. The audience's energetic response revealed just how enjoyable the experience truly was. Perhaps the brilliance of the event lies in its rapidity - bare boned theatre at its finest - simultaneously raw and real. The time constraint clearly condensed and sped up the theatrical process, so that by 1 p.m. on Jan. 5, the production was going into technical rehearsals followed up by a dress rehearsal that ended a mere 20 minutes before the house opened. Glouchevitch expressed the satisfying aspects of the pace, saying that, "It's kind of funny because it's condensing three months of work into one really intense period of agony - and then you get to have the cast party."

Strum also commented on the production's prompt nature, saying that, "I think the time constraint can have one of two opposite effects on a writer: paralysis or a major sense of freedom." For the six playwrights involved, the limitations of the event added yet another dimension to the writing process - making it far more focused on product rather than content. "The time constraint can free you up, since it can also force you not to think too hard," said Strum.

Ultimately the "24-Hour Play Festival" has potential to help actors, directors and playwrights alike get back to the basics - without time for lengthy character development or intricate design elements, artistic choices are forced to be made and stuck with.

Mishico was accurate when she stated that, "This was a theatrical experiment." Indeed, to organize and embark on such a risky journey was an enormous feat. Whether one play proved more successful than another ultimately seemed rather insignificant. What was important was how engaged and comfortable the audience felt - yelling out to actors, dancing along to music and laughing up a storm. There were no guidelines or expectations to the theatre produced and in the end everyone involved - both participants and audience members - felt liberated by such originality.

What better way to welcome in this Winter Term than with such an amazingly creative and collaborative collection of work? Two years and counting, everyone who was lucky enough to stumble into the Hepburn Zoo this Saturday evening left with high hopes that this will become a Middlebury College tradition for years to come.