Theatre Off Jackson Presents 14/48 Theater Fest, 8/6-7

Consistency is the bane of creativity so Seattle's unique semi-annual speed theatre festival heads to its new summer venue Theatre Off Jackson at 409 7th Ave South in the International District. 14/48 will run Fridays & Saturdays, July 30 & 31, August 6 & 7 with two shows a night at 8:00 and 10:30 pm. Fresh off increasingly passionate audiences and Standing Room Only houses of 300+, 14/48 will give its audience a more intimate experience at the 150-seat Theatre Off Jackson. "We're committed to having at least 25% of the artists in each festival be brand new to the 14/48 process so we thought we'd extend that to a space we've never been before, Theatre Off Jackson." says 14/48 Executive Producer Shawn Belyea. "They've hosted some great artists and programs over the years so we feel like we're in good company. There's also a really big bar, The Canoe Club, above the space, so that works out really well for us."

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.

Friday Morning: Seven directors gather and each randomly draw one play. Thirty minutes later, the directors blindly choose actors and actresses' names on slips of paper 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.

Friday at 8pm: The seven plays have their World Premiere. The audience provides the theme for the next evening's show via a random drawing and the seven writers go home to start the process all over again to culminate with seven World Premieres for Saturday evening at 8pm.
14/48 runs for two consecutive weekends July 30 - 31 & August 6 & 7, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. with a New Group of 75 artists each weekend. Tickets are $20 online at www.brownpapertickets.com or $25 at the door. The 14/48 All-Festival Passes are sold out and no longer available. For more information visit www.1448fest.com, and www.1448fest.blogspot.com.

14/48 Veterans include: Jerry Manning (Artistic Director: Seattle Repertory Theatre), Charles Leggett (Greg Falls Award for Best Actor in Merchant of Venice at SSC & A Trip to Bountiful at ACT) Rita Giomi (Artistic Associate: Seattle Children's Theatre), Sheila Daniels (former Associate Artistic Director: INTIMAN), Elizabeth Heffron (playwright of Mitzi's Abortion), Scot Augustson (playwright & creator of Sgt. Rigsby & His Amazing Silhouettes) and Stranger Genius Award Winners Paul Mullin, Amy Thone, and Sarah Rudinoff. Some artists who have worked at Theatre Off Jackson and 14/48 include Stephen Hando (Keefee's House of Cards & Sgt. Rigsby's Amazaing Silhouettes), Kiera McDonald (Executive Producer of Solo Performance Festival and Artistic Director of Our American Theatre Company Susannah Burney and all but one of the cast of its current production of Angels Fall.

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 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 Megan Ahiers, Shawn Belyea, Jodi-Paul Brown-Wooster, Kerri Brown-Wooster, Deb Fialkow, Tim Hyland, Andy Jensen, Peter Dylan O'Connor, Alex Samuels and Stan Shields.