Review: ANNUAL 24-HOUR PLAY FESTIVAL Dazzles Again at Contemporary Theater Company

The Contemporary Theatre Company's 19th annual 24 Hour Playwriting Festival on Jan. 13th once again showcased the exhilarating potential of spontaneous creativity. In this remarkable event, six writers are given a set of prompts at midnight and must craft a short play to be performed at 8 pm. This year's prompts inspired a diverse array of stories — funny, macabre, flat-out weird — each a unique, unfiltered expression.

With actors and directors only getting scripts at breakfast time, having experience in this demanding genre matters. This time, according to the CTC's social media, 3 of the writers were experienced 24-Hour playwrights (notching up an impressive 43 plays) while the other three were first-timers. Of the 22 actors, there were 16 veterans (of 64 plays) and 6 newbies. The directors were mostly experienced, with 5 out of the 6 returning.

The evening always has the feel of a space between improv and scripted theatre, somewhere between a skit and a 10-minute play. In addition to the prompt for the show, delivered to the writers as a logline, Rebecca Magnotta, who coordinated the event, periodically visited the writers' rooms to throw additional challenges at them: required phrases like "My ARMS!" and "It's not like I can think about finishing this thing if I'm dead." Or "3am challenges" like "You must prepare some kind of food over the course of the play," or a devastating 7am challenge: "There must be a dance number at the end." Additional "minor inconveniences" were also tossed at the writers: "A character must have a strange phobia" or "A pivotal moment is played out in slow motion."

The first play, "What Are Dads" by Kenney Knisely, directed by Christoper Simpson, was a shaggy dad-joke fest as two groups of Dads (jocks and nerds) competed to be the top dad with possession of the sacred TV remote. Aidan Costa, Tylar Jahumpa, Stephen Fox, and Alondra Cruz played it just right (and took home the coveted audience award for "Best Overall Play." Audience votes are collected right after the show, and Magnotta and others vamped mightily during the counting process.)

Next up was "The Trials and Adventures of Kilgour and Milligan" written by Eddie O'Connor and directed by Valerie Tarantino. This got weird from the jump as we find an office cruise crashed on an island that mutates into "Lord of the Flies" pretty quickly. The players — Maddie England, Sophia Pearson, and Paula Glen (who scored an award as audience favorite) — delightfully threaded a fine line between absurdity and melodrama.

The third play, "The Butler Gambit," written by Andy Hoover and directed by Jaybird Walker, was more of a character study, a dark, brooding superhero toyed with by an archnemesis butler. All the actors — Devon Andrews, Tina Moore, Omar Laguerre-Lewis, and Paul Kassabian — did fine work here maintaining just the right tone. 

"Diver Down" by Brandon Michael Lowden, directed by Ryan Secak, was a drawing-room mystery set in a submarine, with an oceanographer stabbed before we open, and rounds of accusation that descend into a fight with harpoons. This cast, Jared Norbega, Jessie March, Ari Kassabian, and Ezra Acton, delivered nicely realized individual characters. Playwright Lowden was also the recipient of the most minor inconveniences, and they were incorporated to hysterical effect.

The fifth play, "The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian," written by Elizabeth Tarantino, directed by Witt Tarantino, was the most "realistic" of the evening, a small, intense portrait of a circus clown at the end of their rope. Actors Laura Kennedy, Matt Fraza, and Maggie Papa (who scored the other acting award) did an outstanding job.

Closing the night was "Death Do Us Part," a weird tale by David B Marchetti, directed by Ashley Macamaux. A shy vampire finally discovers that their family are — literally — monsters. Done in an exaggerated soap-opera style, the actors, including Max Rosemarin, William Moore, and Sonny Wong with a fine turn as Mina, all had a great deal of fun. And the servants dumping a pail of spaghetti (a required prop) on the table in front of a hungry crew of monsters provided a hilarious end to the evening.

The production teams also deserve immense praise for their ability to bring these plays to life. The set designs and props, though necessarily simple due to time constraints, were ingeniously crafted to suit each play's needs, further testament to the festival's spirit of innovation and resourcefulness. The lighting and sound cues were mostly visibly correct, which is an absolutely amazing thing to consider.

Additional audience awards: Best Extra (company member who appeared in multiple shows) Terry Simpson. Best use of props: What Are Dads? Best Choreography (Fight or Dance): Trials and Adventures of Kilgour and Milligan. Best Production Value: Death Do Us Part. Best death scene: Diver Down. Best Script: Brandon Michael Bowden for Diver Down. 

Now a staple of the Contemporary's winter season, the 24 Hour Playwriting Festival remains a vibrant celebration of theatrical artistry. It challenges the norms of play production and highlights the extraordinary things that can be achieved in a short time frame. This year's festival not only provided an evening of outstanding entertainment but also reaffirmed the Contemporary Theatre Company's commitment to fostering creative talents and pushing boundaries. For those who cherish the raw, unfiltered spirit of live theater, this festival is a must-see annual event. Set a reminder for this weekend next January, when the festival turns twenty. That's bound to be another unmissable evening.

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