It's a hard day's night for playwrights
Kensey King
Issue date: 1/29/10 Section: Entertainment
Twenty-four hours. Twenty-eight people. One master plan.
Mix it all together and you've got the Rice Players' The 24 Hour Plays. It is remarkable to think that a group of Rice students can write, direct and act an entire production, all within the span of a day. And it's even more remarkable to think that a feat this imposing could actually turn into the enjoyable, memorable event that it became.
Last Friday night around 9 p.m., all the participants - writers, actors, directors and even registered audience members - met up to begin the grueling and daunting process. Each person, regardless of title, brought a prop to provide the writers inspiration. The writers then commenced to pump out a 10-minute play while trying to incorporate the wide selection of colorful props that lay in front of them.
After the writers finished around 6 a.m., the directors came in to choose the play they wanted to direct. One hour later, the actors arrived and began learning their lines and blocking for their big debut, which now stood mere hours away. Around 8 p.m. that night, the curtains finally opened and, ready or not, the show began.
This year there were a total of four plays performed on the night of the show. The style and topic of each play differed wildly, from a college comedy to a romance-gone-awry between two detectives. The costumes were nothing extraordinary, but that never hindered the plays from amusing the expectant audience. The props also added fantastically humorous elements in themselves, giving the writing even more bizarre twists.
Of all the plays, two especially shined with their witty writing and ridiculous acting. The first play, titled "Croquet" and written by Wiess College senior Sarah Cook, set the bar high with sparkling dialogue and mesmerizing acting. The story made the audience chuckle as one roommate, played by Martel College senior James Bookhout, retold his "interesting" night with Cruella de Vil (Baker College sophomore Erin Dahlstrom) to his disbelieving friend, portrayed by Hanszen College sophomore Spencer Boucher.
Mix it all together and you've got the Rice Players' The 24 Hour Plays. It is remarkable to think that a group of Rice students can write, direct and act an entire production, all within the span of a day. And it's even more remarkable to think that a feat this imposing could actually turn into the enjoyable, memorable event that it became.
Last Friday night around 9 p.m., all the participants - writers, actors, directors and even registered audience members - met up to begin the grueling and daunting process. Each person, regardless of title, brought a prop to provide the writers inspiration. The writers then commenced to pump out a 10-minute play while trying to incorporate the wide selection of colorful props that lay in front of them.
After the writers finished around 6 a.m., the directors came in to choose the play they wanted to direct. One hour later, the actors arrived and began learning their lines and blocking for their big debut, which now stood mere hours away. Around 8 p.m. that night, the curtains finally opened and, ready or not, the show began.
This year there were a total of four plays performed on the night of the show. The style and topic of each play differed wildly, from a college comedy to a romance-gone-awry between two detectives. The costumes were nothing extraordinary, but that never hindered the plays from amusing the expectant audience. The props also added fantastically humorous elements in themselves, giving the writing even more bizarre twists.
Of all the plays, two especially shined with their witty writing and ridiculous acting. The first play, titled "Croquet" and written by Wiess College senior Sarah Cook, set the bar high with sparkling dialogue and mesmerizing acting. The story made the audience chuckle as one roommate, played by Martel College senior James Bookhout, retold his "interesting" night with Cruella de Vil (Baker College sophomore Erin Dahlstrom) to his disbelieving friend, portrayed by Hanszen College sophomore Spencer Boucher.
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