by Julia Kelm

Students gathered in the dimly lit Gist Hall Theatre on Sept 13. An atmosphere of excitement and a hint of nervousness was in the air, and the audience chatted amongst themselves as they waited to be entertained by their friends and peers.

The 24-hour play festival is an official theatre company in New York City, and is a program that is performed at community and professional theatres, and other universities nationwide. The program was founded by Tina Fallon in 1995. The purpose of the festival was to bring together a community of creative artists in a time-limited experiment to create as much art as they could in a 24-hour time frame. The festival is open to anyone interested in theatre, not just theatre arts students. Other majors and people in the community are all welcome to be a part of the performances.

The festival provides students positive reinforcement and tools that they can hopefully take into their aspiring careers.

Troy Lesher, a Cal Poly Humboldt theatre arts faculty member, also works to support students with the festival. 

“It’s a thing that theatre people love to do because of the thrill,” Lesher said. “Within 24 hours, students write new plays, rehearse, produce and stage them. Showtime.” 

Showtime indeed. All that hard work from students culminated into amazing performances from everyone involved. The festival was broken up into six plays that averaged around eight minutes per skit. Stand out plays included a satirical prom story with many laugh-out-loud moments. A more serious skit featured two ex-friends rekindling a broken friendship, as they slowly sink to their doom inside a boat.

Each play was also produced, written, directed and acted by students, within the 24-hour time frame. Plays ranged from comedic to serious, even surrealist at moments, showcasing the immense creativity and talent of the theatre arts department.

Caleb McCarthy, a senior film major and theatre arts minor co-produced the festival with peer Ali Laith. McCarthy expressed his dedication and love for his work in the theatre.

“Seeing words on the page come to life.” McCarthy said, referring to why he loves theatre and the 24-hour play festival.

Julia is a journalism major, and is the life and arts editor for the paper. She loves film and is a regular on Letterboxd. She also enjoys going on walks in the forest, and taking pictures to relax.