Have you ever wanted to see a live stage event where everything has been created in the previous 24 hours? 24 Hour Creative, held on February 6th at the Camino Real Playhouse in San Juan Capistrano, CA., does just that. Six playwrights are chosen to write a play overnight. Six directors are chosen to take the script in the morning and rehearse until showtime that night. And actors audition, get cast, and perform the plays within that 24 hour period.
If you think it’s fun to attend (and it is), it’s even more fun to participate. I’ll be writing for this year’s event, as I did last year. What a rush. I meet the show’s producer and my director on Friday night. Actors arrive for auditions. After auditions, the producer gives each playwright the theme for the show, and they plays. Each of us gets the same theme.
Then the thrill ride begins. The writers go home and write. All night. We create a ten minute stage play. We bring it back to the theatre at 8AM on Saturday, and go over it with our director, and be cast the play from the pool of available actors. Actors arrive at 9:15 and are told what role they’ll be playing, and rehearsals begin. Six or seven rounds of rehearsals take place all day, and by 8PM, the curtain goes up.
The show is made up of volunteers, and all proceeds from ticket sales go to the theatre. This is their big fundraising event for the year, and it helps keep live theatre alive and well in the area.
I’m honored to have been selected to be one of the six playwrights. I love live theatre, and this theatre is a local gem, run by exceptional people.
I’d tell you what my play will be about, but I have no idea. You’ll have to come find out, just hours after I create it.