Dozens of community members are joining together to create six brand new plays at the 8th edition of the Independence Area Community 24-Hour Plays. The performance is Saturday, January 28, at 8:00 p.m., sponsored by the William Inge Center for the Arts at Independence Community College.
The "24-Hour Plays" format allows busy community members to take part in a fully staged play within literally just the length of one entire day.
"It’s fun. It’s creative. It's a great community-building event and the audiences love it," said Peter Ellenstein, Inge Center Artistic Director, "Some of the most respected actors in the nation take part in the annual Broadway 24-Hour Plays, and they love it as the ultimate theatrical challenge. It is intense, but community members discover the same thing as Broadway actors: that the 24-Hour Plays unleash a fulfilling rush of creativity and talent."
No one person actually stays up an entire day and night (that would be crazy!). Participants meet Friday evening for a 90-minute orientation, and then go home to sleep. The six playwrights and a beleaguered producer remain awake all Friday night and into the early morning to write brand-new 10-minute plays.
The actors, directors and backstage crew return Saturday morning for a rigorous day of rehearsals to prepare for the wild public performance at 8:00 p.m.
A talented and motley assemblage of Community members and ICC students will gather to stage a whirlwind of creativity. The list of anticipated participants, a record number of community members, include: Liz Allen, Sherri Allen, Lauren Bell, Mike Bell, Sarah Bell, Barb Blackert, Rich Browning, Marcia Carvalho, Jonathan Clothier, Cindy Couch, Drew Demo, Michael Fienen, Mike Hall, Caleb Hadley, Jill Huggins, Jonna Jarnagin, Mary Kadel, Eugene Lindsay, Zenas Lopez, Chris Mitchell, Liz Moore, Lily Morgan, Angie Musgrove, Heather Mydosh, Leslie Anne Padilla, Bruce Peterson, Debbie Puryear, Debbie Sandoval, Lea Shepard, John Lloyd Stafford, Allen Twitchell, Tim Valentine, Timothy Valentine, Jackie Webb, and Greg White.
The plays are appropriate for ages 13 and older. Rotten tomatoes may be purchased at the door. Caution, laughing too hard can bruise your funny bone! Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for students.
This event is presented in collaboration with the original 24-Hour Plays Company. Since it was created in 1995 by Christina Fallon, the 24-Hour Company has produced more than 300 new short plays. Each year a benefit "24-Hour Plays" on Broadway attracts the nation's most famous actors. Audiences have enjoyed these fresh productions in cities, colleges and high schools from around the country.
The William Inge Center for the Arts is best known as sponsor of the annual William Inge Theatre Festival, the Official Theatre Festival of the State of Kansas. The 31st annual Inge Festival takes place April 18-21, 2012, with Honoree David Henry Hwang. Tickets go on sale March 1, 2012. Visit www.ingecenter.org for more information.
The William Inge Center for the Arts is a participant in the New Generations Program, funded by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the American theatre. This program is presented in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, which believes a great nation deserves great art.
