14/48: The World's Quickest Theater Festival Runs 7/31-8/1 & 8/7-8/8 In Seattle

After more than a decade of mutual admiration, 14/48: The World's Quickest Theater Festival and On the Boards will join in an artistic alliance of the two arts organizations most-dedicated to featuring new work generated by the region's most fearless artists. 14/48 will run Fridays & Saturdays, July 31 - August 1 & August 7 - 8 at 8:00 and 10:30 pm at On the Boards. With thirteen solid years of growth under their belt, 14/48 (fresh off a Standing Room Only January 2009 festival ) will enter On the Boards proudly carrying a 2008 Mayor's Arts Award and enough beer, food and caffeine to fuel over 100 of the city's most adventurous theatre artists who will create 14 plays in 48 hours.

14/48 is 14 plays conceived, written, designed, scored, rehearsed and performed in 48 hours. The brutal combination of short deadlines, extreme talent, incredible speed, frayed nerves and an immediate inspiration serve to strip away creative inhibitions occasionally found in more traditional theater, proving that, contrary to popular opinion -sometimes the first idea is the best. 14/48 involves more than 75 artists per weekend with at least 25% participating for the first time. Artistic participation is by invitation only and is predicated on the most rigorous professional standards.

Here's how 14/48 works:

Early Thursday Night, Before the Festival Begins: After tapping the ceremonial 14/48 Keg, all the participants choose a theme by completing this sentence: "Theatre would be a lot more interesting if there were seven ten-minute plays about _____." One answer is chosen at random and that becomes the theme for the following evening.

Thursday Night: Seven caffeine-filled writers have one night to write a 10-minute play based on the theme.

The Next Morning: Seven directors gather and each randomly draw one play. Thirty minutes later, the directors blindly choose actors and actresses to cast the show.

That Day: The band shows up to provide music and sound, designers create all technical aspects of each show as the directors and their casts rehearse all day.

That Night at 8pm: The seven plays have their World Premiere. The Audience provides the theme for Saturday's show via a random drawing and get out for the 10:30pm audience. The artists get ready for the 10:30pm show and ask "What did we get ourselves into?" The writers grab a cup of coffee and get to work.

July 31, August 1 & August 7 & 8, 2009; Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 & 10:30pm

On the Boards | 100 W Roy St | Seattle , WA 98119

TICKETS: $18 online or $20 at the door. Tickets are available at www.brownpapertickets.com. For more information visit www.1448fest.com, and www.1448fest.blogspot.com.

14/48 Veterans include: Jerry Manning (Producing Artistic Director: Seattle Repertory Theatre), Stephanie Shine (Artistic Director: Seattle Shakespeare Co.), Charles Leggett (Becky's New Car at ACT & Merchant of Venice at SSC) Rita Giomi (Artistic Associate: Seattle Children's Theatre), Brian Faker (Producing Director: Giant Magnet), Sheila Daniels (Associate Artistic Director: INTIMAN), Kathy Hsieh (Sex in Seattle), and Stranger Genius Award Winners Paul Mullin, Amy Thone, and Sarah Rudinoff. Some artists who have worked at On the Boards and 14/48 include Kevin Joyce, Stephen Hando, Bret Fetzer, Juliet Waller-Pruzan, Amii LeGende, Sarah Rudinof, Nick Garrison, Charles Smith, Erin Jorgensen, and members of the highly-aclaimed theater-music-comedy-art collective "Awesome."

Founded in 1997 by Michael Neff and Jodi-Paul Wooster, the festival has evolved from a one-night one-time only event to a twice-yearly, two-weekend-long theatrical bonanza dedicated to featuring Seattle's most fearless theatre artists with occasional guests from Los Angeles, Vancouver BC and New York. Participation is by invitation only and ranges from experienced fringe theater artists to Seattle 's performance elite. Each festival, 14/48's Steering Committee strives to comprise the artist pool of at least 25% new participants (a.k.a. "14/48 virgins"). The 14/48 Steering Committee is Shawn Belyea, Jodi-Paul Brown-Wooster, Kerri Brown-Wooster, Deb Fialkow, Tim Hyland, Andy Jensen, Peter Dylan O'Connor, Alex Samuels and Stan Shields.