I don't think I've explained it before, so allow me to introduce you to the concept of the Overnighters: they are fully realized short plays that are written, rehearsed, and performed all within 24 hours. It's truly amazing, and if you haven't been to something like this before, I highly recommend it if you ever have the chance. This year at the Last Frontier Theater Conference, the first night of performances were Overnighters (this term, by the way, is used for the Alaskan version of this; I think other similar type enterprises have had other names). So this is what happened: the night before, all of the actors, directors, and playwrights gathered in the theater, where the inspiration for each playwright for their piece was revealed. In this case, each playwright was given a cartoon slide that would be their inspiration. They had a chance to meet their cast, and then they were off! They had until 7:30 in the morning to write a play... talk about crazy! So at 8am the actors and directors came in, got into their rehearsal space, and started reading through the play that they would be performing that night... again... crazy!
But what a thrill as well! This was the third (thanks for the correction Shane!) chance that I had had for performing in the Overnighters, and I had a blast. My friend Shane was the playwright for our piece, which ended up being called "Naughty Friedrich Goes to Heaven". Basically, the gist of it was that Friedrich's soul in life had been so balanced, that it wasn't clear cut in which direction he would follow after death... so both an angel and a demon were sent in to battle over him... well, that's not a great synopsis, but that's a basic idea to base these photos off of.
Seriously, memorizing everything and going out there in less than 12 hours is a bit crazy... but it's thrilling too, and there's some special energy that happens at these things--you know that you're hanging by a wire, the audience knows what you've been through, and so when it all works out it is truly amazing. I loved the show we did--Shane did an amazing job writing this very funny, but very poignant piece... in less than 12 hours! Amazing. Anyway, I've added a few of my favorite pics here, but like before, I have a link to more by clicking here, if you care to take a look! Enjoy!
3 comments:
You were so awesome in that show! It was almost as though the part was written for you. =)
By the way the original 24 hour play process was called, unoriginally "24 hour plays", and was started in New York. Dawson brought the idea from San Francisco where they are called "Day Trippers".
I was so lucky to have an almost perfect cast to write for. You guys were great and, as the script says, you and alette were "Friggin' hot"!
But what the heck are you doing posting to your blog at 3:00 AM?
Love you,
Shane
oh, my blog still thinks I'm in Minnesota, so I actually posted this at midnight--still late, but not quite so :)
This is the first time I've looked at your blog. Wow, the things I'm missing out on. I've never done an Overnighter. I was sort of invited once, but didn't happen, like a phone call never arrived as follow-up. You sure make it sound like a lot of fun.
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