One way to get a taste of theatre is to audition for a show and take a few months and really get to know the way things work around there. This year, the theatre department decided to put a new twist into the recruiting of new members. The 24 Hour Film Festival is the key to getting completely immersed in theatre with the lowest time commitment possible. Just 24 hours and it is all over, that is, if one can resist leaving the enticing world that thrives inside the auditorium.

The 24 hour play covers every aspect of the production of a show, both backstage and under the spotlight. Open to all students, no experience is required. A week prior to the start of the production, students met to sign up for their roles. A meeting was held to inform and elaborate of the festival itself. The production began on April 9 at 2:10 p.m. with eight sealed envelopes. It was then that the writers were given their three constraints.

“The first thing that we needed to include was to mention the color black and/or red. Second we had to have two generations, like a parent and a child. Our last constraint was to include a famous quote about pride and make sure to credit the author,” sophomore Flora Sherr-Nelson, one of the eight writers, said.

The writers set off to let their creative juices flow and produce a show that could be performed in 5 to 15 minutes. The final copy had to be shared to Theatre Coordinator Grif Sadow via Google Docs by 8 p.m. that evening. From there Sadow would proof read the scripts, and send them off to one of the six directors. The directors would have the night to prepare the script and at 8 a.m. the next morning they came in and held auditions. After sending the actors off to memorize their lines, the directors would meet with technicians and schedule times to teach their shows. The directors would then either assign someone to find props, or go fetch some themselves. Actors would take the day to rehearse lines and learn blocking.

“As an actress, I was a little bit nervous about being able to memorize my lines in such a short amount of time. The plays turned out to be pretty short so it wasn’t any trouble,” sophomore Sophie Vogel said.

One thing the 24 Hour Festival does for students is gives them complete exposure to any aspect of theatre they take interest in. For example a returning actor getting into behind the scenes work, a techie jumping up onstage, or a new face with a passion for directing. Anyone can try anything and it helps to broaden peoples appreciation for the different branches of the process.

“When you’re acting, if you mess up it only affects yourself and possibly the people onstage. When you are doing tech, you have the potential to mess up the entire show for the whole cast. It was so nice to be able to see all the hard work that goes into tech,” senior Sara Swartz said.

The entire casts and directors were called for 3:30 p.m. to do a run-through and tech the shows. They would need to program lighting, find sound effects and scene-change music for each show. Keeping up with tradition, all members of the entire production gathered in the dressing room at ten to seven to congratulate each other on their outstanding accomplishments as a team.

“I haven’t done any theatre before, in fact, I was just helping out at the 24 Hour Festival. I’m not an actor, so I helped with the props and some behind the scenes tech work. It was fun to hang out all day and talk to new people. I’ll probably come back next year to do tech for the shows,” junior Scotland Kraker said.

The 24 Hour Play Festival has proven to be a huge hit this year, and is a great contender to be a returning tradition in the theatre department. Understanding all of the aspects that go into a production is a very important part of theatre. It creates a tight bond between cast and crew. The 24 Hour Festival gives newcomers an idea of theatre as well as an outlet to express creativity in all forms. This production brings students, as well as the community together. When the curtain goes up and a group this passionate performs for the community, it is sure to be an unforgettable night.