The Theatrefolk Weblog

Corey-Jan Albert is a Georgia teacher who read all about the 24 hour playwriting Festival in our newsletter.

We were INSANELY overjoyed to hear from her about her own try at the process. What follows is Part One of her detailed account.

Thank you so much to Corey-Jan for sending this to us and letting us post it.  Session Two of the project started yesterday! A big thanks also goes out to the Roswell, GA department of Recreation and Parks under the leadership of Morgan Rogers.

What is the 25 Hour Play Project?

The 25 Hour Play Project began as a pipedream/extension of the playwriting class that I have been teaching at High Meadows School for three years. Playwriting is my joy and my passion and sharing it with interested students is one of the most fun things I’ve ever gotten to do.

Last year, I was researching some theatrical process for my playwriting class, I read about the concept of the 24 Hour Play — a “lock-in” in which a group of students goes from nothing to the creation and performance of a set of 10 minute plays in the space of 24 hours. I was fascinated. But the process seemed to require that there be one dedicated group of writers, who would write for 12 hours, then hand off their finished plays to a different group of directors, who would direct a third group — actors.

So, the next step was to figure out how to make it happen. I talked with a TON of people all over the Atlanta area, but finally my own hometown came through. Sandra Mabry at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center put me in touch with Morgan Rogers at the Roswell Department of Recreation and Parks and after many discussions, Morgan generously offered us the opportunity to try it this summer.

This past Friday, we got to see the results of what we believe is the first ever 25 Hour Play Project for a single group of teens, all of whom write, direct and act.

Of course, when plays are created in such a short span of time, they cannot be polished or perfect (much to the chagrin of some of our participants). But they can be powerful. These plays were being produced as “Reader’s Theatre,” which means that sets are creative and minimalist, simple and suggestive. Costumes are partial and suggestive, rather than complete. And there is no full memorization of lines - scripts are used openly. The point is to highlight the quality of the plays and the direction/acting that brings them to life. And that’s exactly what happened.The process was intense, engaging, occasionally frustrating and often entertaining. Our participants came to the program with a wide range of backgrounds, connections to each other and theatrical experience. Yet everyone jumped in with absolute enthusiasm. Plays were written in the first 10 hours. Directing techniques and ideas were explored in the next 5 and rehearsals have taken place over the final 10 hours. We have been exhilarated and exhausted - but ultimately, I believe we have created something very special.Somehow, I had the presence of mind to keep a journal during the week. To get a sense of how the project went and what we did, read on…..

Part Two will be posted tomorrow!

Filed under: Writing