Seattle's 14/48 Festival Returns to Bullit Cabaret in 2009

Seattle's 14/48 Theater Festival is still going strong and still wreaking havoc and mayhem-this time inside ACT's stunning and historic Bullitt Cabaret space. 14/48 - The World's Quickest Theater Festival will run January 9-10 and January 16-17 with two shows a night at 8:00 and 10:30 pm. With twelve solid years of growth under their belt 14/48 will enter the Bullitt Cabaret 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.

Past 14/48 participants include: Jerry Manning (Seattle Repertory Theatre), Stephanie Shine (Seattle Shakespeare Co.), Rita Giomi (Seattle Children's Theatre), Brian Faker (Seattle International Children's Festival), Sheila Daniels (INTIMAN), Paul Mullin, Amy Thone, Sarah Rudinoff, and Gabe Baron (Stranger Genius Award Winners), Kathy Hsieh (Sex in Seattle), and members of the highly-aclaimed theater-music-comedy-art collective "Awesome." Some artists who have worked with ACT and 14/48 include Kevin Joyce (A Pale & Lovely Place), Deb Fialkow, SusAnna Wilson and Peggy Gannon (The Women), Eric Ray Anderson and Elizabeth Heffron (Mitzi's Abortion) and most recently Trick Danneker (Eurydice). 14/48 will post the January 2009 Artist Roster at www.1448fest.com on November 9, 2008.

Seattle actor, teaching artist and 14/48 participant Deb Fialkow comments, "Taking a 'risk' has become very risky for arts organizations in the current strapped financial climate where economic need is breeding safe, predictable, 'marketable' art; this threatens the growth of the medium, and thereby threatens the growth of our culture and communities. To have a place where artists, like myself, can challenge our craft, ourselves, each other, and the discipline itself, is invaluable. 14/48 energizes and inspires Seattle artists, whose work is seen in every local-area venue, as well as in our schools, and strengthens our artistic community."

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 overflowing fountain of 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 30% 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 as the directors and their casts rehearse all day. Early that evening the groups struggle to squeeze in a tech rehearsal and at 8pm the first show begins!

After the Seven World Premiere Plays Wrap: The audience chooses a new theme and the adrenaline-charged theater-a-thon kicks in again.

14/48 runs for two consecutive weekends January 9-10 and 16-17: Friday and Saturday (8:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.) with a New Group of artists each weekend. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Tickets are available at the ACT Ticket Office, 700 Union Street , Downtown Seattle, (206) 292-7676 or online at www.acttheatre.org. For more information on 14/48 visit www.1448fest.com, and www.1448fest.blogspot.com.

About 14/48
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 that features 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 30% new participants (a.k.a. "14/48 virgins").

About ACT
For the past 43 seasons, ACT's mission has been to present a broad spectrum of the very best of Contemporary Theatre that speaks to audiences of all backgrounds. A significant part of ACT's mandate is to commission new works and to foster the development of those works in a supportive and inspiring workplace. Through The Central Heating Lab, ACT seeks to heat things up and create a conversation with its season that reaches for a deeper impact.

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