Play In A Day 4

And as the season continues to fade-out, Insurgent Theatre and Alamo Basement Productions present yet another in their series of 24 hour theatre shows. Play In A Day 4 will be the two company’s latest foray into instant theatre. The idea is this: both companies will write, direct and produce an entire show in 24 hours. The show will presented one day after the group has started working on itexactly 24 hours pass between the group conferring to write a script and audience sitting in their seats for opening curtain of a show presented complete with off-book actors, costuming, scenery and lighting. The hope is that this will produce something newsomething freshsomething . . . entirely disposable.  The previous three Play In A Days have been fun. The idea of watching a group of generally exhausted people trying to present something completely new has the kind of morbid appeal one might have in watching meetings of the House or the Senate on C-SPAN . . . but more than that, these people are actually trying to entertain an audience with almost no preparation, which is always interesting to watch. What does a group of people come up with when they have an impending deadline of 24 hours in which to come up with a feature-length show to entertain an audience?

Realistically, this isn’t that tall an order if the group of people in question is little more than the traditional DIY theatre crowd. The real challenge is selling out a venue like the 10th Street Theatre and  getting the group to try to come up with something that reaches a sell-put crowd. I’m not saying that that’s going to happen, I’ just saying . . .it’d be interesting if it did. And what with as much opening this weekend as there IS . . . it’s a good bet that there are going to be some open seats on the 30th . . . As for me . .  . I have the 10 pm show at Carte Blanche and a couple of options . . . I’m going to have to decide which is going to be easier to make it to Carte Blanche from considering the bus schedule . . . 10th Street Theatre or . . .  Off-Broadway Theatre . . . perhaps neither . . .

Alamo Basement/Insurgent Tehatre's Play In A Day 4 opens at 8pm on May 30th. Those interested in a better understanding of just what Play In A Day is all about should visit Alchemist Theatre at 7:30 pm for a screening of the video recording of Play In A Day 2: Bunny Rabbit in A Box Of Chocolates. Have a beer with those involved in the show and get in on the weirdness. Admission to the screening is free.