It's a hard day's night for playwrights

By Kensey King     1/28/10 6:00pm

Twenty-four hours. Twenty-eight people. One master plan. Mix it all together and you've got the Rice Players' The 24 Hour Plays. It is remarkable to think that a group of Rice students can write, direct and act an entire production, all within the span of a day. And it's even more remarkable to think that a feat this imposing could actually turn into the enjoyable, memorable event that it became.

Last Friday night around 9 p.m., all the participants - writers, actors, directors and even registered audience members - met up to begin the grueling and daunting process. Each person, regardless of title, brought a prop to provide the writers inspiration. The writers then commenced to pump out a 10-minute play while trying to incorporate the wide selection of colorful props that lay in front of them.

After the writers finished around 6 a.m., the directors came in to choose the play they wanted to direct. One hour later, the actors arrived and began learning their lines and blocking for their big debut, which now stood mere hours away. Around 8 p.m. that night, the curtains finally opened and, ready or not, the show began.

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This year there were a total of four plays performed on the night of the show. The style and topic of each play differed wildly, from a college comedy to a romance-gone-awry between two detectives. The costumes were nothing extraordinary, but that never hindered the plays from amusing the expectant audience. The props also added fantastically humorous elements in themselves, giving the writing even more bizarre twists.

Of all the plays, two especially shined with their witty writing and ridiculous acting. The first play, titled "Croquet" and written by Wiess College senior Sarah Cook, set the bar high with sparkling dialogue and mesmerizing acting. The story made the audience chuckle as one roommate, played by Martel College senior James Bookhout, retold his "interesting" night with Cruella de Vil (Baker College sophomore Erin Dahlstrom) to his disbelieving friend, portrayed by Hanszen College sophomore Spencer Boucher.

Likewise, "Badass Juliet" also succeeded in winning over the audience as Facebook and a new love triangle were introduced to the classic story. Martel senior Joe Sy pulled off his outfit and the role of Mercutio, now known as the man in love with Romeo, as well as one could hope. The incorporation of college cheers between the Montagues and Capulets was superb and gave the audience of Rice students an automatic connection to the characters.

I wonder, after watching all four plays, if any of the writers sat in the same room while composing their plays, for three of them involved misaligned crushes or love gone awry. While the writing of the play "Trash" was solid, its success is all due to Wiess sophomore Nathan Gabriel for playing such a convincing homosexual creep with his fellow male actors.

TJ Burleson, also a Wiess sophomore, did an excellent job of playing a ghost along with a skulking, old director in "Very Superstitious." The plot and ending of the play, however, were a little bit too predictable and corny for full satisfaction.

The overall lighting, sound and direction of the event moved fairly fluently. Kudos must be given to the head producer, Martel freshman Maggie Sulc - tackling an event of this proportion is one thing, but doing this as a freshman is extremely courageous.

Hopefully next year will see a crop of plays equally as stellar as this year's, or even better. I encourage everyone to attend when the next opportunity arises, for it provides great entertainment. Best of all, it's free. And who knows - perhaps next year Mercutio will finally be able to woo Romeo.

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