LACEY, Wash. — The audience is in control, and anything can happen during “30 Plays in 60 Minutes,” this fall’s production by the Saint Martin’s University theatre arts department.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Nov, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18 and 19, and at 2 p.m. Nov. 13 in the Kreielsheimer Arts Building on the University campus, 5000 Abbey Way SE. Tickets are $15, $5 students/seniors/military for all shows except those on Nov. 16 and 17, which will be pay-what-you-will. Advance tickets for Friday, Saturday and Sunday performances can be purchased at brownpapertickets.com
The hodgepodge of two-minute plays, taken from “Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind,” was created by Greg Allen and written by The Neo-Futurists, a Chicago-based experimental theater company, says Prof. of theatre arts David Hlavsa, one of the show’s directors. Also directing will be Brian Tyrrell and University senior Shannon Winterfeld.
“We’re doing 30 plays in 60 minutes, and the audience gets to choose the order we do them in from a ‘menu,’” Hlavsa remarked, as he described the rapid-fire format.
“These are eight brave actors – to do these plays in random order chosen by the audience, and to try to beat the clock without rushing. Every rehearsal is a blast. I can’t wait to see how this works in front of an audience! It should be a lot of fun.”
Hlavsa said The Neo-Futurists are dedicated to challenging cultural sterotypes, to spontaneity and randomness, and to fresh, real-time connection with the audience. Saint Martin’s is producing the show by special arrangement with the company, he said.
