Eight Plays in 24 Hours

The 24 Hour Theatre Project is an Olympic event for thespians in South Florida. A bunch of playwrights will gather at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables at sundown this Sunday. They’ll be tasked with writing a play based on a random title (at last year’s project, one of the titles was How My Sister, Sally, Collected Her Winnings Despite the Dead Mime in Her Car). The eight plays must be written by sunrise Monday. Then, coming off of their stimulant highs, the twitching playwrights will hand over the scripts like batons to the region’s best actors and directors — including artistic directors such as GableStage’s Joe Adler, the Naked Stage’s Antonio Amadeo, and Ground Up & Rising’s Arturo Fernandez, alongside outstanding actors such as Todd Allen Durkin, Ken Clement, Paul Tei, and Avi Hoffman. It’s their job to block, memorize, and rehearse the short plays by showtime that evening. This is what Adderall is for.

At last year’s 24 Hour Theatre Project, only one play was pulled off without a stumble. But the screwups add to the fun. The emotional meltdowns, impossible deadlines, chemical inducements, and suicidal artistic energies culminate orgiastically this Monday at 8 p.m. at the Miracle Theatre. Tickets cost $58, and part of the proceeds will go to the region’s youngest, most daring theater troupes, including Mad Cat and Promethean.
Mon., Nov. 10, 2008