Up all night

As part of the University of Idaho's 24-Hour Theatre Festival, six playwrights will be given a theme at 8 p.m. Friday, from which they must write 10-minute plays to be staged, rehearsed and performed by the actors and directors at 8 p.m. Saturday.
There are several 10-minute play competitons around the country, including Seattle's 14/48 festival which will take place in January. In that festival, 14 plays are produced in 48 hours.
Besides the six playwrights, the Moscow production will include six directors, two stage managers and 18-24 actors. The actors will be chosen for the various plays even before the plays are written. In fact, Curtis said, the plays will be written specifically with the particular actors in mind.
After picking a theme at random, the playwrights will have from 9 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday to finish the plays. Rehearsals will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday.
The themes all are "idioms and proverbs" such as "home is where the heart is," Curtis said.
Playwrights are Adam Harrell, Damien Ernest, Amy Hollon, Adam Sharp, Mattie Rydalch and Quinn Hatch. Directors are Mindy Curtis, Phoenix Patterson, Keely Gray, Rebecca Klump, Rachel Rosenfeld and Nick Witham. Stage managers are Kristen Mun and Cathy Malin.
"It's great training for writers and directors, and it really creates a different kind of theatre for audiences," Curtis said.
The public is invited to audition for the plays at 8 p.m. Friday at the Hartung Theater. Those auditioning may perform a one-minute monologue or "simply tell a story," Curtis said.