This past Friday and Saturday I graduated to being a performed writer and staged director, all through the wonders of the 24 hour play format.
This was Accidental Theatre's Fast & Loose program, organised as part of the Queen's Quarter Weekend, and performed in The Space in Queen's Student' Union. The brief was simple enough, a play had to go from conception to performance in 24 hours.
There were a few caveats - no budget (all set and props had to be begged, borrowed or created from scratch, Blue Peter-style), a pre-set cast, and each play was to be within 7 minutes long - but working within restraints such as these helps nurture creativity, rather than inhibit it.
The set up was that writers, either in groups or individually, were sequestered in The Seamus Heaney Centre of Queen's University, from 8pm to 7am, to write the play. Then at 7am, the cast and directors took over and brought the words to life while the writers got some much-needed sleep.
The idea was the brainchild of Emily DeDakis who was overseeing everything throughout the 24 hours, without even so much as a furrowed brow. Her patience was exemplary. Also overseeing things was the president of Queen's University Players, Justyn MacKay, who guidance was unmatched.
Myself and Jack Geary were paired together, but since we had rehearsals for Incident at Vichy to attend during Saturday afternoon, we were briefed to write, direct and act our piece, which was a pioneering move for the program (get us, Lewis and Clarke!).
Entitled Charlatans, our idea was to have a pair of odious men use the staging of a bogus magic show to obtain young women's phone numbers. We had to rope in the talents of stage hands Darragh Cotter and Rebecca Mairs to perform with us, and they did admirably. Through the writing evening Emily and Lisa Keogh were on hand to keep us focused, and while we directing, Lisa May of Bruiser Theatre was offering us invaluable guidance. Over at the tech desk, Ciara McCafferty, David Kane and John Beecher were impeccable with their cues and timing, without which the piece may have fallen apart. The crowd responded really well to us, which gives me confidence in that performing comedy was not something I felt I had particularly adept at.
The other plays in the show were uniquely worthy in their own ways, and it was fascinating to see how many different ideas were gestated within such a minuscule time frame:
Fools and Their Followers, written by Philip Hurst, directed by Eilise McNicholas and featuring Colm Doran, Ross Jonas and Claire Mason was a biting satire on the cult of YouTube, and the people that become famous from it.
Patrick Fitzsymons' Love in a Small Place, directed by Seamus O'Hara, and featuring Marikje Cortenbach and Rory Knox was a family drama set in a dystopian future where the older generations must be dead in order for younger ones can be born.
Three young writers, Leana Arrell, Neal Cahoon and Brian Charity teamed up to create Douglas, a black comedy about a ruthless estate agent trying to sell a murder house to an eager couple. Featuring Nuala Donnelly, James Pelan and Molly Clarke, under the direction of Tom Saunders, the piece was perfectly pitched, and the audience loved it.
Rounding off the night was The Glass Door by Zosia Kuczynska, directed by Shireen Azarmi. This was a challenging, experimental piece about isolation featuring a brilliant performance from Amy Poole.
The whole experience taught me a lot about the process of theatre production, and showed that not having the time to dwell on anxieties affords the practitioners more freedom. Most of all it was a lot of fun, and great meeting a whole raft of new people who I look forward to working with again.
This was Accidental Theatre's Fast & Loose program, organised as part of the Queen's Quarter Weekend, and performed in The Space in Queen's Student' Union. The brief was simple enough, a play had to go from conception to performance in 24 hours.
There were a few caveats - no budget (all set and props had to be begged, borrowed or created from scratch, Blue Peter-style), a pre-set cast, and each play was to be within 7 minutes long - but working within restraints such as these helps nurture creativity, rather than inhibit it.
The set up was that writers, either in groups or individually, were sequestered in The Seamus Heaney Centre of Queen's University, from 8pm to 7am, to write the play. Then at 7am, the cast and directors took over and brought the words to life while the writers got some much-needed sleep.
The idea was the brainchild of Emily DeDakis who was overseeing everything throughout the 24 hours, without even so much as a furrowed brow. Her patience was exemplary. Also overseeing things was the president of Queen's University Players, Justyn MacKay, who guidance was unmatched.
Myself and Jack Geary were paired together, but since we had rehearsals for Incident at Vichy to attend during Saturday afternoon, we were briefed to write, direct and act our piece, which was a pioneering move for the program (get us, Lewis and Clarke!).
Entitled Charlatans, our idea was to have a pair of odious men use the staging of a bogus magic show to obtain young women's phone numbers. We had to rope in the talents of stage hands Darragh Cotter and Rebecca Mairs to perform with us, and they did admirably. Through the writing evening Emily and Lisa Keogh were on hand to keep us focused, and while we directing, Lisa May of Bruiser Theatre was offering us invaluable guidance. Over at the tech desk, Ciara McCafferty, David Kane and John Beecher were impeccable with their cues and timing, without which the piece may have fallen apart. The crowd responded really well to us, which gives me confidence in that performing comedy was not something I felt I had particularly adept at.
The other plays in the show were uniquely worthy in their own ways, and it was fascinating to see how many different ideas were gestated within such a minuscule time frame:
Fools and Their Followers, written by Philip Hurst, directed by Eilise McNicholas and featuring Colm Doran, Ross Jonas and Claire Mason was a biting satire on the cult of YouTube, and the people that become famous from it.
Patrick Fitzsymons' Love in a Small Place, directed by Seamus O'Hara, and featuring Marikje Cortenbach and Rory Knox was a family drama set in a dystopian future where the older generations must be dead in order for younger ones can be born.
Three young writers, Leana Arrell, Neal Cahoon and Brian Charity teamed up to create Douglas, a black comedy about a ruthless estate agent trying to sell a murder house to an eager couple. Featuring Nuala Donnelly, James Pelan and Molly Clarke, under the direction of Tom Saunders, the piece was perfectly pitched, and the audience loved it.
Rounding off the night was The Glass Door by Zosia Kuczynska, directed by Shireen Azarmi. This was a challenging, experimental piece about isolation featuring a brilliant performance from Amy Poole.
The whole experience taught me a lot about the process of theatre production, and showed that not having the time to dwell on anxieties affords the practitioners more freedom. Most of all it was a lot of fun, and great meeting a whole raft of new people who I look forward to working with again.