By Shannon Wilder, Catalyst Magazine
In case you’re laboring under the delusion that Atlanta suffers from a lack of theater talent, you should spend a day — literally — with the producers, actors and directors of The 24-Hour Plays. It’s a headlong leap into the manic soul of the creative process.
The 24-Hour Plays are just that: plays completely created and produced in 24 hours. The first eight hours are dedicated to the writers who, fueled by a variety of (legal) stimulants, team up to pen entire (albeit 12-minute-long) plays. Hard on their heels are the directors, who have a few moments to familiarize themselves with the works before casting actors and spending the rest of the day rehearsing. The shows go on at 9:00 p.m. and by 11:00 p.m., exactly 24 hours after it began, the day is over.
There’s a reason the producers use the tagline “Embrace the Chaos.” Here’s a rundown:
11:00 p.m.: Still sporting a fetching plaid polyester pantsuit — the costume from a play in which she’s currently appearing — Synchronicity Performance Group’s Julie Oshins offers the 16 writers goodies — magnets, crayons, bubble blowing solution, etc. — from a brown paper sack. There are two of each; writers drawing the same item become partners. Topher Payne and Marc Cram hit it off immediately and are spouting ideas before other pairs have even figured out where to sit. Payne, who runs a daycare center, has written for The 24-Hour Plays three times, acted twice and directed once. Cram, who manages the Zoo Atlanta gift shop, is a veteran (once acting, once writing) and co-author of The Zurich Plays, a 1997 hit that was restaged this April at Dad’s Garage. He says the 24-hour process is good for him. “I’ve spent years writing plays that never got finished,” he says. “But this allows me to focus deeply. By staying up all night, I can produce something worth seeing.”
12:15 a.m.: Ensconced in a dressing room, Payne and Cram are bouncing ideas off one another, fueled by a bottle of black currant grappa and two bags of potato chips. Cram thought the grappa would hasten the creative process; instead it’s making his lips stick together. That’s a liability for a pair that talks as much as these two do. Payne says they hit on their topic pretty quickly — a takeoff on reality-based TV shows titled The Last Temptation of Survivor pitting Benito Mussolini, Marilyn Monroe, Alexander the Great and Jeffrey Dahmer against Don King, Mother Teresa, Elizabeth Taylor and Willie Nelson for a trip to Heaven and a new Ford Taurus. Satan and Kathie Lee Gifford emcee.
1:30 a.m.: Taking a smoke break — nicotine is a popular fuel source around here — Payne and Cram are hashing out plot details. The Survivor-like tribal warfare, says Payne, will center on games such as Twister and a three-legged race. Their original idea called for a sack race, but they changed out of consideration for directors. Had they left it in, someone would be spending their Sunday morning searching for sacks. Or, more likely, the director would have yanked the scene. They can do that. One set of writers noted on their cover page that the work should be presented more seriously than campy. “See that line,” the director said to his actors at rehearsal, “I want you to take your pens and mark it out. Completely.”
8:00 a.m.: Directors gather in the theater and choose scripts from Oshins’ outstretched hand. They begin to read. Some laugh, some groan. Marc Cram sidles up to Kate Warner, director of Last Temptation, and hands her a list of actors he and Payne want cast. Though Oshins technically handed over the reins to Synchronicity day producer Michele Pearce at this point, she opts to stay for casting.
8:30 a.m.: Casting begins. Head shots for 60 actors are on the rehearsal room table. Directors number off from one to eight and pick accordingly; the last one choosing twice and then working back down the line. Those who need two or three actors are done in minutes. For Warner, who has 10 actors to cast, the process is somewhat longer. Though one of her choices draws a groan of disappointment, no one gets nasty. Instead they trade or share — Warner is splitting Randy Cohlina with another director. The actor’s mischievous, diabolical look makes him perfect for Last Temptation’s Jeffrey Dahmer and another play’s Satan.
9:30 a.m.: Warner seeks a scantily clad young man for the final scene of Last Temptation. Someone mentions Mirlis has just cast one who might be willing to take on both roles, because he has virtually no lines. Topher Payne has returned after a few hours of downtime and is wandering the theater desperately seeking the director who cast him. He’s talked to everyone, but he can’t figure out who it is.
9:45 a.m.: Actors are flooding into the building with suitcases and makeup bags in tow, and rehearsals are beginning in hallways and classrooms throughout the former school building in which Horizon is housed. Payne bounds into the third-floor classroom where director Kate Warner is waiting for the cast of Last Temptation to appear. He’s been cast as Mussolini in his own play and he’s wondering if he’ll have time to dart home later and re-watch Tea With Mussolini to get an idea of how the little dictator, um, dictates.
3:30 p.m.: Horizon’s matinee of The Bible goes on; rehearsing groups try to get out of the way. Nevertheless, patrons inevitably encounter actors declaiming about photography, stupid man tricks and the unbearable lightness of being Jeffrey Dahmer.
11:00 p.m.: Last Temptation comes to a close as Mother Teresa saves Jeffrey Dahmer’s soul by prohibiting him from touching Seiling, who’s back in his boy-toy getup and slathered with chocolate syrup. The entire company comes out for a bow, and friends and family swarm them offering hugs and congratulations. Moments later, actors are downstairs in the rehearsal room swigging beer, putting on their street clothes and feeling both elated and despondent that it’s over. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Dahmer is presumably driving off to Heaven in that brand new Ford Taurus while Mother Teresa learns the true meaning of venal sin.
In case you’re laboring under the delusion that Atlanta suffers from a lack of theater talent, you should spend a day — literally — with the producers, actors and directors of The 24-Hour Plays. It’s a headlong leap into the manic soul of the creative process.
The 24-Hour Plays are just that: plays completely created and produced in 24 hours. The first eight hours are dedicated to the writers who, fueled by a variety of (legal) stimulants, team up to pen entire (albeit 12-minute-long) plays. Hard on their heels are the directors, who have a few moments to familiarize themselves with the works before casting actors and spending the rest of the day rehearsing. The shows go on at 9:00 p.m. and by 11:00 p.m., exactly 24 hours after it began, the day is over.
There’s a reason the producers use the tagline “Embrace the Chaos.” Here’s a rundown:
11:00 p.m.: Still sporting a fetching plaid polyester pantsuit — the costume from a play in which she’s currently appearing — Synchronicity Performance Group’s Julie Oshins offers the 16 writers goodies — magnets, crayons, bubble blowing solution, etc. — from a brown paper sack. There are two of each; writers drawing the same item become partners. Topher Payne and Marc Cram hit it off immediately and are spouting ideas before other pairs have even figured out where to sit. Payne, who runs a daycare center, has written for The 24-Hour Plays three times, acted twice and directed once. Cram, who manages the Zoo Atlanta gift shop, is a veteran (once acting, once writing) and co-author of The Zurich Plays, a 1997 hit that was restaged this April at Dad’s Garage. He says the 24-hour process is good for him. “I’ve spent years writing plays that never got finished,” he says. “But this allows me to focus deeply. By staying up all night, I can produce something worth seeing.”
12:15 a.m.: Ensconced in a dressing room, Payne and Cram are bouncing ideas off one another, fueled by a bottle of black currant grappa and two bags of potato chips. Cram thought the grappa would hasten the creative process; instead it’s making his lips stick together. That’s a liability for a pair that talks as much as these two do. Payne says they hit on their topic pretty quickly — a takeoff on reality-based TV shows titled The Last Temptation of Survivor pitting Benito Mussolini, Marilyn Monroe, Alexander the Great and Jeffrey Dahmer against Don King, Mother Teresa, Elizabeth Taylor and Willie Nelson for a trip to Heaven and a new Ford Taurus. Satan and Kathie Lee Gifford emcee.
1:30 a.m.: Taking a smoke break — nicotine is a popular fuel source around here — Payne and Cram are hashing out plot details. The Survivor-like tribal warfare, says Payne, will center on games such as Twister and a three-legged race. Their original idea called for a sack race, but they changed out of consideration for directors. Had they left it in, someone would be spending their Sunday morning searching for sacks. Or, more likely, the director would have yanked the scene. They can do that. One set of writers noted on their cover page that the work should be presented more seriously than campy. “See that line,” the director said to his actors at rehearsal, “I want you to take your pens and mark it out. Completely.”
8:00 a.m.: Directors gather in the theater and choose scripts from Oshins’ outstretched hand. They begin to read. Some laugh, some groan. Marc Cram sidles up to Kate Warner, director of Last Temptation, and hands her a list of actors he and Payne want cast. Though Oshins technically handed over the reins to Synchronicity day producer Michele Pearce at this point, she opts to stay for casting.
8:30 a.m.: Casting begins. Head shots for 60 actors are on the rehearsal room table. Directors number off from one to eight and pick accordingly; the last one choosing twice and then working back down the line. Those who need two or three actors are done in minutes. For Warner, who has 10 actors to cast, the process is somewhat longer. Though one of her choices draws a groan of disappointment, no one gets nasty. Instead they trade or share — Warner is splitting Randy Cohlina with another director. The actor’s mischievous, diabolical look makes him perfect for Last Temptation’s Jeffrey Dahmer and another play’s Satan.
9:30 a.m.: Warner seeks a scantily clad young man for the final scene of Last Temptation. Someone mentions Mirlis has just cast one who might be willing to take on both roles, because he has virtually no lines. Topher Payne has returned after a few hours of downtime and is wandering the theater desperately seeking the director who cast him. He’s talked to everyone, but he can’t figure out who it is.
9:45 a.m.: Actors are flooding into the building with suitcases and makeup bags in tow, and rehearsals are beginning in hallways and classrooms throughout the former school building in which Horizon is housed. Payne bounds into the third-floor classroom where director Kate Warner is waiting for the cast of Last Temptation to appear. He’s been cast as Mussolini in his own play and he’s wondering if he’ll have time to dart home later and re-watch Tea With Mussolini to get an idea of how the little dictator, um, dictates.
3:30 p.m.: Horizon’s matinee of The Bible goes on; rehearsing groups try to get out of the way. Nevertheless, patrons inevitably encounter actors declaiming about photography, stupid man tricks and the unbearable lightness of being Jeffrey Dahmer.
11:00 p.m.: Last Temptation comes to a close as Mother Teresa saves Jeffrey Dahmer’s soul by prohibiting him from touching Seiling, who’s back in his boy-toy getup and slathered with chocolate syrup. The entire company comes out for a bow, and friends and family swarm them offering hugs and congratulations. Moments later, actors are downstairs in the rehearsal room swigging beer, putting on their street clothes and feeling both elated and despondent that it’s over. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Dahmer is presumably driving off to Heaven in that brand new Ford Taurus while Mother Teresa learns the true meaning of venal sin.
