Gonna Write a New Play. In 24 Hours. Or Less. Nov 7 & 8.

I'm pretty stoked about this. On Friday, I'm meeting up with thirty-ish Columbus area theatremakers to work on Available Light Theatre's latest outing, 24 Hour Theatre. What is 24 Hour Theatre? I think AVLT sums it up nicely: 

24 Hour Theatre is the drag racing of the theatre world. It’s short, furiously intense, and something might explode.


It's true. Something might explode. Thanks to my time at Ohio Playwriting and Theatre Daedalus, I've written short plays in a week, in 48 hours, and in 24 hours. It's been a couple years since I've attempted this, so I'm excited, nervous, and all fluttery inside as we draw near to the weekend. So how does this all work?

Thirty artists, spanning the breadth of the Columbus theatre community, will create six brand-new short plays in just 24 hours. Starting at 8pm on Friday night, names are drawn, teams created, plays written over night, and rehearsals completed in 8 hours, all in time for opening night at 8pm on Saturday.

There's a wonderful burst of creative energy that comes along with 24 hour events like these. Theatre is already ephemeral. Any theatre show you've seen, they've spent time building it and creating it, but at the end of the run it has to step aside to make room for the next show. Whole worlds are just dismantled and characters put away and it's... bittersweet. So all that gets wildly compressed in shows like this, and for me that makes it wildly more fun. On Friday, I'll have a blank page, a director, some talented actors, and some inspiration. On Satuday, there will be a short play being staged. Just like that.

Recommended if You Like: Jack Bauer, 24 Hour Comics, the distinct possibility that someone will fall flat an their face.


They're going to rehearse, they're going to play, and these directors and actors and technical artists are going to breathe life into the writers' scripts. Except it happens so fast that all you can do is hang on and have fun.

If you're in Columbus on Saturday, November 8th @ 8pm, join me at Available Light Theatre. Riffe Center Studio One, 77 S. High St. Get your tickets in advance online. There will also be Pay What You Want tickets available at the door.