Play in a Day hits the stage this weekend at Imagine Performing Arts in Oviedo. It’s a kind of theatrical sprint – teams of Central Florida writers, actors, and directors are given an official theme just one day before the curtain goes up, and they race against the clock to create a fully-realized short play ready for the stage in 24 hours.
Play in a Day has been an annual Orlando event for more than 20 years. It was started by Central Florida theatrical stalwart Beth Marshall, who moved away early last year and left the event in the capable hands of newly minted Supervising Producer Clark Levi, who trained under Marshall, and longtime Production Stage Manager Blue Estrella.
Levi said Play in a Day is steeped in spontaneous creativity, but there are a few rules. “All the pieces are ten minutes or under, and they are written, staged, directed, and performed, all in under 24 hours,” he explained.
The 24-hour clock starts the evening before the show. At that time, Clark and Estrella will gather the teams and reveal what Estrella calls “the theme and the twist.” The “theme” is the topic the plays are to address, and it changes every year. And, of course, it’s kept secret until exactly 24 hours before the event. The “twist” is a surprise element that must be worked into each play.
For instance, Levi said, last year’s theme was “rebirth,” given that it was Levi’s first solo journey as Play in a Day’s supervising producer.
And the twist?
“I got eight objects, one for each team, that represented rebirth in different ways,” explained Levi. Each team of creatives got to choose an object that had to be worked into their play.
In an illustration of the adage “expect the unexpected,” the objects included everything from an old chair that had been repurposed into artwork…to a cage full of live hissing cockroaches!
“They represent the rebirth of nature,” said Levi. He added that the play that featured the hissing cockroaches involved a “mad scientist” character and was very well-received, encouraging the audience to “really look at the state of things in our world right now, but in a very funny and human and compelling way.”
And that’s the kind of thing that makes Play in a Day special to Levi. “It lets people take big artistic swings and big risks that they may not necessarily get to in other places.”
In case you’re wondering, the insects stayed in their cage and none were harmed in the making of the show.
