Any die-hard theater
geek knows that a show doesn’t just happen overnight. It usually takes months or
even years to write the script, weeks to audition actors, and months to build
the set and rehearse the actors before it’s “curtain
up.” That is, unless you’re part of The 24-Hour Plays,
which debuted at Writers & Books Monday night, less than a day after
everyone involved started work on the project.
Thirteen actors, six
writers, six directors, and three producers crammed that entire theatrical
process into 24 hours — the final hour being the performance of six freshly
written short plays, which ranged from humorous to poignant to downright silly.
The challenge alone is dizzyingly daunting, making the scenes performed to a
110 percent packed house Monday that much more impressive.
The night started with
an off-color examination of role-playing. In “An Encyclopedia of Bifurcations”
by Nina Alvarez, Susanna (Susanna Guarino) and Emily
(Emily Horowitz) switch roles almost faster than you can keep up. First they were
an actor/director duo, then a horny yoga instructor and her would-be lover. The
lightly humorous and feverishly paced short examined our evolution of
creativity in a refreshing way.
Roger Gans and Jack Simel practically
knocked me from my seat due to laughter in Bill Capossere’s
“The Farnsworth’s Encounter.” The theme of switching stories continued on this
one, too. Womanizing Red Neck Jack (Simel) and
slightly batty nursing-home escapee Reginald Farnsworth (Gans)
change names, hats, mannerisms, and everything else at breakneck speed every
time a nurse came in and out of the room. Gans and Simel’s comic chops shined, as the pair clearly felt
comfortable with their characters, and with one another.
Combining a man in a bathrobe
holding a bocce ball and a woman wearing moth wings couldn’t have been easy,
but Craig DeLancey’s “Moths” managed to find a way to
do it, striking a remarkable balance between funny and poignant. The props and
costuming choices were brought in by the actors – each was asked to audition
using a unique costume and prop. The premise of the love story between a
bocce-playing, bathrobe-wearing boyfriend (Dave Kyle) and his entomologist
girlfriend (Jodi Beckwith) is as ridiculous as it sounds, but DeLancey’s script found a way to come full circle. Weaving
in a few good “ball” jokes for good measure, “Moths” reminds us that for all of
our faults, we can still find happiness in someone with whom we can soar.
A cursed guitar was the
central issue for the next play — “The Un-tunable Guitar” by Mark Jabaut. Peter Doyle’s deadpan moments as Duane, the dopey
janitor, were matched perfectly by wannabe singer Sally (Denise Bartalo), who Duane mistakes for Stevie Nicks. He insisted
the reason the guitar she stole from the band Cobb Salad (“No thanks,” Duane
says), is because it’s caramel. Karma does indeed take a central role in
this light-hearted look at a down-and-out rock star trying to find her own way.
Another unlikely pair,
stranded together in Vegas, was the focus of the next play, “What Happens in
Vegas” by Carolyn Kourofsky. British artist Evelyn
finds an unlikely roommate for the night in loser-dating, rat-toting, fast-food-eating
Tina. Evelyn (a wonderfully funny McKenzie Keenan) is baffled by the casino
games. Even though she seems to have experienced less of life than her
bunkmate, Tina (a brassy, but oddly charming Stephanie Roosa)
tries to impart some wisdom on Evelyn. The two manage to find a mutual interest
by the end, as Evelyn can memorize cards for blackjack, and the odd couple
jaunts off into the night for some perhaps profitable fun.
The final play was
perhaps the best paced and the most balanced of all the scenes put on before
us. “Come as You Are” by Dan Mulcahy centers around
Carly MacNulty (Allison Roberts), an Irish woman who
has made some mistakes in life and is marrying a nice Mormon guy just for his
health insurance. Her father, Francis (Richard St. George), meanders about the
room, trying to be reassuring in a way only dads can be. If I didn’t know
better, I would have believed these two were actually father and daughter, as
Roberts and St. George played off each other’s moments of weakness and
one-liners masterfully. Carly jokes about ending up in Buffalo, a place
described as “a swirling vortex that hits your car, right at the Batavia exit.”
(Clearly playing to a local crowd there — and it worked). “Life’s a cruise,”
Francis trades right back. “And some of us take the Carnival line.” The wedding
music starts softly in the distance and the two walk arm and arm out the doors.
It gave a real sense of closure to a night of masterful entertainment.
If there were missed
lines in the night, I missed them, amidst all the fun and thought-provoking
entertainment set out before me by this daring group of theater people. And for
that, I applaud them.
This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2013.
