Fear Factor
By MICHAEL SMITH World Entertainment Writer 1/11/02
Hank Willenbrink is one of the playwrights participating in the madness. A. CUERVO / Tulsa World
Eight playwrights, eight directors, actors and 24 hours equals theater on the edge
A press release warning from Tulsa Experimental Theater offers an idea of what to expect from its "24-Hour Play Festival" to be staged Saturday evening.
"This production is likely to contain adult language and mature subject matter," it states, "although we can't be entirely sure at this point."
What we can be certain of come Saturday night is the creation of eight new short plays. Eight playwrights will gather at 8 p.m. Friday at the Nightingale Theater to begin writing the works based on information that's supplied to them.
A group of directors will join them a couple of hours later, pairing off to continue shaping the plays through the night -- until a group of actors arrive at 8 a.m., prepared for a brief audition and then to be assigning to specific plays. Then it's rehearsal time until these eight separate groups gather to stage these short productions for the public, 24 hours after initial conception.
The very idea of theater people creating a short play in such a short time, and under such strict circumstances, brings to mind many thoughts and emotions. Like trusting your gut. Managing egos. Meeting deadlines. The exhilaration of the process. Sheer terror.
"The goal is to create an atmosphere that's fun and to remove things that often get in artists' way, the second-guessing nature of creating, thinking about perception and how it will be received," said Jonathan Scott Chinn, founder of Tulsa Experimental Theater and pretty much the ringmaster of this event.
"Artists are a bit skittish by nature," he said, laughing. "The idea here is to say `In 24 hours there's going to be a paying audience watching your work. Go!' The idea is to remove those restrictions and leave them thinking, `OK, I've got to create, I've got to make decisions, I've got to make them now, and if I'm going to make something interesting, I've got to make bold choices and stick to them.' We want people to embrace their instincts."
The project seems to fit in with the group's "experimental" vision, offering the kind of variety that can best be created by bringing together many different points of view. Familiar faces from Theater Tulsa, University of Tulsa Theater Department, Midwestern Theater Troupe, American Theater Company, Theater Pops, Theater Club, Heller Theater and others combine to make up the participants for the evening's entertainment.
Chinn said he read about a similar festival in Atlanta, though that event is monthly and encourages improvisation.
"We're actually trying to avoid improvisation. That's only going to come in at moments of duress," he said with a chuckle. "Hey, that's part of the tightrope act. At some point it may play a role, and there might even be concern as to whether someone is going to make it through."
The playwrights will arrive 24 hours before production and begin work upon receiving a prompt with four elements: visual, audio, text and physical. The audio and visual are fairly abstract sound and pictures to create a basic atmosphere for all to work in. The text element will be a list of actions, occurrences, character types and more, from which each playwright will have to select a required minimum to put in the play. The physical element is a common set designed with furniture and some provocative props.
"The goal is eight separate short-form plays, what are often referred to as `10-minute plays,' that make a strong statement in a short amount of time," said Chinn, who sees the varied line-up resulting in different interpretations of the prompt. The result? Maybe a comedy, a melodrama, something avant garde, something traditional ...
"I'm hopeful that our audience will see creativity bursting out," Chinn said. "My hope is that -- and we know it won't be brilliant throughout -- it can be about questioning, like `Why do we start the play by dimming the lights and lifting the curtain?' `What if we don't?' `What if the characters don't have names?' `Will it work? What will happen?'
"I'm terrified, and I'm excited about this project. And I think that's a good way to be."
WHAT: "24-Hour Play Festival," a collection of short plays presented by Tulsa Experimental Theater
WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St.
TICKETS: $8, discounts available for students and seniors. General admission tickets will go on sale at the door at 6:30 p.m. Saturday
Michael Smith, World entertainment writer, can be reached at 581-8474 or via e-mail at michael.smith@tulsaworld.com.