Author: Morgan Flake
Two pink paperweights, four colored wristbands, the sound of the rushing wind, the line “So, do I have to press them both?”, a fantasy theme and twenty-four hours. These were the supplies given to 16 Occidental College students who participated in the 24-Hour Theater Challenge.
The 24-Hour Theater Challenge was held on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 19 and 20. It is an annual event on campus for students of any major or class year to split into groups of five to six students (a director, a writer and actors) and spend 24 hours creating an original ten-minute play to perform in Sycamore Glen.
The challenge was created at Oxy in the spring of 2006 by Karen Baughn ’08. Similar events take place at college campuses and independent theater groups around the world.
“My collaborator Ursula Burgess ’06 and I decided to create an event that would bring together writers, directors and actors from all over campus, despite year, major and experience, to make what we love making – a good story,” Baughn said.
Baughn wanted to provide students who weren’t involved in theater a chance to enjoy the process and to give theater majors an opportunity to try something different.
“The time commitment is low so that there is no excuse [not] to throw your sleep and homework to the wind for one night and gather to create in a fun environment,” Baughn said.
Omar’s Cookie Jar Fund, which supports student-led endeavors in the theater department, provides funding for the project. The fund was set up in 1985 when Emeritus Professor Omar Paxon retired from his position in the theater department; he has been supporting student projects since then. Money for the project goes toward buying the props, providing snacks, and renting lights and chairs from Facilities.
The first 24-Hour Theater Challenge had 24 participants. “I thought that was quite poetic: 24 artists in 24 hours,” Baughn said.
This year Caitlin Anderson (senior) and Sienna Beckman (sophomore) headed the project. Anderson has participated in the Challenge since its inception.
“It’s the most wild, awesome day. I got to meet a lot of people in the theater department and upperclassmen,” Anderson said.
The participants spent from 6 p.m. on Friday to 6 p.m. on Saturday in Fowler brainstorming, drawing, rehearsing, dancing, eating snacks, playing games and watching movies. A minimal amount of sleep was involved.
As they huddled for a pizza break after 19 hours of laboring over their productions, the groups were tired but enthusiastic.
“It’s a different kind of theater. The energy is different because of the close proximity and short amount of time,” Jack Sutorius (first-year) said.
Students used YouTube videos, drawing on blackboards and their luminous imaginations for inspiration.
“We came up with many ideas of what we wanted to see in the play and combined them. Everybody’s ideas got put together,” Juan German (first year) said.
German directed the Evil League of Evil group’s play “I Remember When.” It featured a Western cowboy showdown, a knight rescuing a princess and a detective scene. “It’s a love story,” German said.
“It’s not easy working with people you don’t really know in a short period of time, but I met some new friends and developed my directing skills,” German said, who plans on majoring in Diplomacy and World Affairs.
Aylia Colwell (sophomore), who played Young Walter in “I Remember When,” is interested in acting in film in the future, but enjoyed this casual activity as well.”I wasn’t sure how many people would show up, but the overwhelming response made it so much easier for me (an actor) to feed off their energy,” Colwell said.
Theater major Eric Zipper (junior) was the writer of “I Remember When.” “It motivated me to write, which I don’t do as often as I should,” Zipper said of the event. “I’d like to keep working on [“I Remember When”] if I find the time and energy,” he added.
The three plays were a hit. Anderson thinks the audience was the biggest yet, about 100 attendees – a few people had to stand to watch.
“Nothing Rhymes with Orange,” directed by Jack Sutorius (first-year), highlighted the right of free speech in a dream world where everyone is under a spell that causes them to speak in rhyme. A high school student punished with detention for defending non-rhyming poetry in class, dreams she has entered the realm of an evil queen. The queen, played by the same actor as the student’s haiku-hating teacher, is in the middle of casting a new spell to restrict speech to Shakespearian iambic pentameter when the student exposes her schemes and all of the minions cast off their archaic speech. Finally, they can use the word orange!
A series of flashbacks in “I Remember When” tell the story of a man named Walter and his passionate quest for love, recounted from a bar stool. A reluctant bartender is eventually captivated by Walter’s recollection of his days as a knight seeking his princess, a detective on the hunt for his lost lover, and a cowboy defending his girl in an epic showdown. Maybe the man was just senile, but his imagination was certainly entertaining.
“Pastor Ted’s Self-Discovery”, directed by Kat Burstein, blended the reality of evangelical summer camps with the fantasy of a candy world inhabited by evil swamp fairies. Two campers discover a fairy and follow him to a magical candy land. They learn about the importance of being true to oneself as they convince another fairy to reveal and accept his true identity.
The wrist bands were used as everything from weapons to mind-controllers. The pink paperweights served as hats in “Nothing Rhymes with Orange” and as drinks in “I Remember When.”
“Seeing the plays was a great Oxy experience,” Elizabeth Upton (first-year) said.
People seemed to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere. Many actors kept their scripts in hand. A couple of mistakes were made, but the actors simply laughed them off.
“There’s no pressure. It’s just about being silly and having fun,” Beckman said.The Challenge was fun for performers and audiences alike.
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