Rover Dramawerks' Short Play Festival ONE DAY ONLY 21 Set for 8/24

One Day Only 21, Rover Dramawerks' signature short plays festival from concept to curtain just one day, will be presented on August 24 at 8:00 p.m. at the Courtyard Theater, 1509 H Avenue in Plano. Ticket prices are $12 for adults and $10 for students, seniors, and STAGE members and may be purchased online at Rover Dramawerks' website at www.roverdramawerks.com or at the door with cash, check, or credit card.

The twenty-first installment of this one-time performance of seven short plays will be the result of 24 hours of work by approximately 60 participants - actors, writers, directors, and technicians. An entire one-act play festival will be written, produced, directed, rehearsed, teched, and performed in a single 24-hour day.

Rover Dramawerks is pleased to announce that Raising Cain's will serve as one of the show sponsors for One Day Only 21. Through their generosity, the participants will be fed throughout the event.

One Day Only was first produced in the Metroplex in May of 2000 by Audacity Productions. Rover Dramawerks teamed up with Audacity for the next three festivals, and Rover went solo to present One Day Only 5 through XX. This kind of exciting festival has also been done in New York on Broadway with major stars such as Billy Cruddup and Christina Ricci, and at the Old Vic in London, spearheaded by Kevin Spacey.

Rover's One Day Onlys have become very popular among playwrights, directors, and actors in the area. Would-be participants are warned that all positions fill up fast, and it's all first come, first served. Writer positions for One Day Only 21 were filled within one minute of sign-ups beginning.

The general timeline of a One Day Only: At about 9:00 p.m. on Friday, August 23, this motley group of writers, directors, and actors, as well as some technicians, get together for the first time. A brief get-to-know you session includes providing ideas for the writers (to be drawn out of a hat) and taking pictures of the actors (no headshots and resumes are allowed). Then the writers stay at the theatre and work through the night, each composing a ten to fifteen minute play based on the subject he/she drew.

At 6:30 a.m., the directors return. They quickly read the seven plays, decide who directs which play, and cast the plays from the pictures taken the night before. The actors show up around 8:00 a.m. and meet with their director and fellow cast members. The writers go home to get some sleep while the plays are blocked, memorized, and rehearsed by the director and actors.

Tech rehearsal begins around 3:00 p.m. Then curtain is at 8:00 p.m., when all of the plays are presented for the first time at the Courtyard Theater. Seven world premieres!

Participants of previous festivals have come from as far north as Durant, OK; as far east as Shreveport, LA; and as far south as Austin, and one of the behind-the-scenes personnel will be coming in for the weekend from Connecticut to help.

Hundreds of original short plays have been presented in previous festivals, and many have seen additional performances with such organizations as Flower Mound Performing Arts Theatre, Lakehill Preparatory School, Punch Drunk Comedy, and the Out of the Loop Festival in Addison, as well additional performances with Rover Dramawerks. Next Stage Press has published 20 plays in three volumes of "The Best of One Day Only" scripts.

Rover Dramawerks is a resident theatre company at the Cox Building Playhouse and Courtyard Theater in Plano, producing a full season of mainstage shows in addition to two One Day Onlys per season, as well as offering summer camps for children ages 5-17.

For more information about One Day Only 21, please call Rover Dramawerks at 972-849-0358 or visit www.roverdramawerks.com.

Photo by Carol M. Rice

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