Listen up, we have something to tell you that you won’t want to miss. Take 7 Writers, 7 Directors, 25 Actors, a handful of Designers and Musicians and just 48 hours. What do you get? 14 World Premier Plays!
14/48 is the world’s quickest theatre festival. 14 plays written, cast, directed, rehearsed, scored, designed, premièred in 48 hours. Fueled on caffeine and a love of theatre, talented writers work through the night to produce brand new 10-minute plays, which are placed into the hands of eager directors at 9am the following morning. Thirty minutes later they are randomly allocated actors and an intensive day of rehearsals begin. At 8pm the shows are costumed, set, lit and performed in front of an adoring audience who then choose the theme for the following evening’s plays and the whole process starts again.
14/48 comes to London all the way from Seattle for the first time ever.
I first heard about 14/48 when I was helping run a small theater in Seattle, Theatre Babylon, that had an annual evening of short plays called Nine Holes. 14/48 was a mythical festival that, to my eyes then, only the coolest of the cool and the best of the best did. Seven writers, seven directors, thirty five or so actors, multiple designers and band members, volunteers coming together to create 14 original works over a weekend? Who does that? And some of the plays were far better than more rehearsed, planned, organised pieces – there’s something thrilling about the ‘WE HAVE TO HAVE THE PLAY DONE NOW AND THERE’S AN AUDIENCE!’ it brings the best out in people.
I gazed on the festival in fervid longing for years. Then I had the foresight to bug 14/48 bigwig Shawn Belyea about inviting me when he was at a reading of some plays by student writers I had helped teach at ACT Theater. “All the other playwright teachers have been invited? Who do I have to—“ Well, you get the picture. Then my husband was invited to direct at 14/48 and I Lady MacBethed like crazy over his weekend to get myself invited and, heavens to betsy, I was invited as a writer. I also had a good friend on the Steering Committee who put in a good word for me.
In 2008, I was able to write for 14/48. People from all areas of the theatre in Seattle participated (I once had the Artistic Director of the Seattle Repertory Theatre direct one of my plays in 14/48.) but no one is arrogant, snobby or difficult. Everyone comes in as artistic equals and promptly gets to collaborating because you have to or you don’t have a show. Our butts are all on the line. My first 14/48 play ever was an over the top crazy, sexual innuendo filled play “Ruby’s Red Ribbon Jam.” It was fun, but the next night, I pushed myself harder and wrote one of the best 10 minute plays I’ve ever produced, “Not You.”
After writing in a few, I wanted more of a challenge. When you write, you hand your script over to the Director and Cast and say “Good luck” and go home to sleep until the evening. When you come back, this whole amazing day has taken place and you come back to find seven fully formed plays. I wanted to be there for that, so I ended up acting in a couple festivals. I can sum that up by LEARN YOUR LINES AND HIT YOUR MARK.
In the years since I’ve started, 14/48 has grown like crazy – Outdoor versions, Kamikaze (where you randomly select the role you’ll fulfill in the festival – Director, Actor, Writer, Designer or the Band). They’ve expanded to produce their own original works and started a version called Theatre Anonymous where a play is rehearsed with each individual actor separately, but the actors have no idea who is playing the other roles. The night of the show, the actors start speaking from the audience, then join the rest of the cast on the stage. There’s Saturday Morning Cartoons where playwrights write plays inspired by cartoons with their children.
14/48 is about playing, experimenting, collaborating and most of all making great art in a short period of time. You can’t second guess yourself. You have to “Bark with the big dogs or get off the porch!”
Here is the important details you need to know for 14/48 London:
When: 7th & 8th August 2015
Where: The Lost Theatre, 208 Wandsworth Road, London, SW8 2JU
Time: 8pm & 10.30pm
Standard ticket: Full: £9 Concession: £8
Weekend ticket (this pass gives you access to either both 8pm shows on the 7th and 8th OR both 10.30pm shows): Full: £16.48 Concession: £14.48
VIP pass (champagne reception, meet the cast, backstage tour, access to the KEG for the show, arrive 40mins before show) Full: £48.14
We hope you are as excited as we are for this wonderful event. And we cannot wait to see you there. Anything could and probably will happen…join us and help create the theatre of the future.
Book Here or Call 0207 720 6897
More info Here
Marcy Rodenborn: http://1448.london/user/marcy.rodenborn/
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14/48 Twitter: @1448London
