Another Day, Another Destiny: The Crazy Creativity of 24 Hour Plays

The Thespian Thoughts blog posts are meant to be a college student’s point of view on various topics in the world of theater to educate all on what encompasses this particular area of the arts.

This passed weekend, I participated in my fifth 24 hour play here at UMF. It is an incredibly fun but challenging event where two teams write, cast,stage and perform a one act length play in twenty-four hours.

If this already sounds daunting, the teams are also required to complete ridiculous tasks from moderators such as late night scavenger hunts, interviewing a stranger and making them a character in your play, and stealing one of your teammates away for a two hour dungeons and dragons campaign so that they can win a prop for your play. 

It is one of my favorite theater events that I have gotten to be a part of because while hilarity and sleep deprivation ensue, it is also creatively stimulating and inspiring. It gives you the feel of being on a real writing team just within an extremely compressed time frame. You come up with your big idea, work out the plot and structure, write ,edit and address problems along the way like debating what you really want for your characters or figuring out where to insert the weird monologue that the other team wrote into your script. Then you take what you have conceived and turn it into a reality.

I have seen excellent dramas and comedies come out of this event. Though rough around the edges, they are beautiful raw works of theater crafted with wit, heart and lots of caffeine. Now it is time to recharge and wait to do it all again next semester!

-Gail

Reminder: We still have our Dramatic Works contest running from now until midnight April 8th. See our Facebook page or website post for details!