Results tagged “1448”

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the lobby at On the Boards last Friday night, as the audience exiting the 8 p.m. performance of 14/48: The World's Quickest Theatre Festival, clashed with the incoming patrons for the 10:30 show, we found ourselves in the back corner chatting with Seattle director Aimee Bruneau.

RECOMMENDED 14/48: The World's Quickest Theatre Festival @ On the Boards. 14/48 has become a twice-yearly staple of Seattle theatre: dozens of actors, directors, and writers get together to throw together the best 10-minute plays they can pull off in 24 hours. The first weekend opens tonight with two showings of the first seven plays, based on themes divvied out to playwrights last night; tomorrow, there's a whole new set of plays--in total, 14 original plays in 48 hours. The festival runs for two weekends at OtB, with a new set of directors, writers, actors, and musicians next weekend. (100 W. Roy St. Fri. & Sat., 8 & 10:30 p.m. Tix $18-$35.)

RECOMMENDED

First, the idea is totally insane and gave us anxiety just thinking about it. Fourteen plays, written, directed and performed in front of a live audience in 48 hours. If you're an actor, writer, performer, or have ever been on a stage, you'd certainly understand. Deep breaths. What is certainly a weekend of chaos for all parties involved in the production of the world's quickest theater festival however, composed itself into a relatively well oiled machine come the 8 p.m. curtain.

It's been a long time since Kim had a tourist to show around, so she's looking forward to giving her father a stellar tour of Seattle and its environs. On the agenda: Chateau Ste. Michelle, Bainbridge Island, the Fremont troll, and plenty of great food--finally an excuse to go to the Kingfish! Before pops arrives, she'll kick the weekend off right, with Sera Cahoone and Zoe Muth tonight at the Tractor.

To say that 14/48--the theater festival created entirely in the space of a weekend--is to the stage what blogging is to the written word would be more than a little insulting to 14/48, but the comparison does hold some water: in each ideas go, in the blink of an eye, from conception to the screen/stage where they fail or touch hearts without the benefit of a final (or second) draft. Local playwright Paul Mullin describes writing for the festival like this:

If you avoided Seattle Center last weekend because of Bite of Seattle crowds, you'll want to make the trip this Saturday or Sunday for weekend two of 14/48: The World's Quickest Theatre Festival. 14/48 premieres 14 brand new plays. Plays are written, rehearsed, and scored by a live band, all within a mere 48 hours. The choices you see tend to be big, bold, and innovative. Sometimes brilliant, sometimes crappy, 14/48 is a no-holds barred experience, not to be missed.

We've got less than totally positive feelings about the sate of theater today. In fact, last time the subject came up in the Seattlest newsroom, we were vociferous in our belief that it's a dead art form. But whenever we take such a dramatic and unwavering stance on one side of a debate, we're reminded that the world is not black and white and is actually shades of gray.