Pass me the coffee: 18 hours of work for one production
To most students, waking up at seven in the morning goes hand in hand with barely being able to function until finishing a Starbucks during second period. With this in mind, it’s hard to imagine choosing to wake up at 4 a.m. on a Saturday and staying awake until curtain call at 9 p.m. that night. While most may call it crazy, the actors, directors, writers and techies who choose to do so call it the 18 Hour Play Festival.
To start the day off on March 21, the writers arrived at 4 a.m. to draft their scripts with their partner, and at 6 a.m. were randomly paired with a director, who spent an hour cleaning up the script and working out the more intricate details. At 7 a.m., the actors arrived and were selected by the directors without a formal audition, but rather in a “dodgeball format” of lining up against the wall and being chosen one by one. Later, the techies came in and were each assigned to a different play.
“In the beginning everyone is stressed out,” said John Ferraro, a sophomore, who acted in one of the plays. “Once it gets running, it’s great. My favorite part is the very end, where it is all put together and everyone performs their shows. It’s amazing.”
During this past 18 hour, more people participated than ever before, ranging from students who are commonly found in the spotlight to those who had never set foot on a stage.
“I genuinely think that the 18 Hour is one of the best programs our school has to offer,” said Emily Goldstein, a sophomore who acted in one of the shows. “Whether you’re not in theater, you have no knowledge of acting or you’ve been acting your whole life, the playing field is level. Everyone has an opportunity. It’s also really great for students who are in theater and want to try other aspects of it.”
Whether or not the participants are experienced, it’s no easy feat to come up with a script, a directing plan, a technical design, or learn lines all in one day while having to work as a team and keep up with the schedule.
“I was almost falling asleep during rehearsal,” said Cole Carlson, a junior who wrote and acted in his own play. “And with one of my actors leaving, I had to act (by) myself, which wasn’t necessarily what I planned on doing. But in the end I was very pleased with the results of the day (and seeing) my show be as well received as it was.”
