CTC showcases quick-wit, creativity with 24-hour Play Festival

January 14, 2011

Photo By Anthony aRusso Contemporary Theatre Company presented its 24-hour Play Festival on Saturday night at South Kingstown High School. Above, left to right: Lily Mathews, winner of best actress for the night, in the play "Do Shiksas Dream of Electric Sheets," and Adora Wilson-Eye from Chicago playing the roll of the doctor. For more information visit thecontemporarytheatre.com.

WAKEFIELD – A lot can be accomplished in 24 hours, just ask the Contemporary Theatre Company.
The group of playwrights, directors, actors and crew put on a memorable show Saturday night in the South Kingstown High School Auditorium, and they only needed one day to do it.

It was the 6th annual 24-hour Play Festival, a unique show that is written, rehearsed and performed all in the span of just 24 hours.
The show consisted of six short plays, and all that were involved had to face many challenges aside from the limited preparation time. Each director had to follow two unique instructions for their play, ranging from pre-arranged plot points to a specific rule for the characters to follow. There were also five spoken lines that had to find their way into the dialogue of each play.

With all of these challenges to overcome, each artist involved in the performance demonstrated incredible creativity, astounding effort and a tremendous ability to work under pressure.
The crowd in the nearly full auditorium began laughing with the first play and continued throughout the night. Each play had it’s own unique plot, dynamic characters and hilarious ways of incorporating the instructions designed for them.

In the program, underneath the title of each show, the challenges were listed. This gave the audience knowledge of what the players and directors were dealing with and made for a unique blend of dramatic irony and exceptional humor.

While the audience was aware of the play requirements, those five spoken lines that all six plays had in common were not in the program. However, by the second and third play, they started to stand out. Each time one of these lines was delivered in a completely different and unexpected context, the audience erupted in laughter.

These five spoken lines were, however, the only noticeable similarity between the plays. Each had a very original plot and it’s own specific, yet relatable characters. At the end of the production, the audience voted for whichever plot, actor, actress and overall production that they liked the most.

The audience chose two siblings as the best actor and best actress of the evening. Lily and Max Mathews of West Kingston, RI were each honored for their hilarious roles.

In the play titled “Suicide Solution,” Max Mathews played the front man of a family hair-metal band with the same name. In his ripped jeans and cut-off shirt, he referred to Suicide Solution as “the greatest Ozzy Osbourne tribute band in South Kingstown.” His rocker antics, dude-heavy vocabulary and flamboyant air-guitar style kept the crowd laughing throughout his performance.

His sister Lily played a much different but equally as memorable character en route to her best actress title in the production’s final play, “Do Shiksas Dream of Electric sheets.” Her role of Mrs. Rabinowitz, the troubled wife seeking assistance with her robot husband, gave the crowd plenty to laugh at. She was loud, did not shy from profanity and played the part of a desperate and slightly crazed woman with enthusiasm and energy.

The awards for best playwright and best overall production went to the same play, the fourth of the evening titled “Titles are Hard.” Playwright Davidb Marchetti of Attleboro and director Judith Ross-McNab of Wakefield were honored for creativity and a job well done. This play was about a broken-hearted man explaining his troubles to a few female friends while the love of his life was out being promiscuous. The show featured slow-motion fight scenes and each character breaking from the script to address the audience.

In between each of the six plays, while the crew was assembling the set for the next play to come, one actor or actress came in front of the curtain to deliver a monologue, the same monologue that the players performed for their audition. While the monologue was the same, its delivery among the five players who performed it was as diverse as one could imagine. From song and dance to a prop less portrayal of battle, each player demonstrated immense creativity with the monologue and kept the audience laughing even between plays.

Some other memorable highlights of the night were the talking watermelon in the play “Brother will, Brother John,” the character called “mammal” in the play “Friends in the End” running through the auditorium and behind the crowd during the show and the sexual innuendo-laced advertisement delivered by the characters during “Suicide Solution.”

While the entire production took merely a day to complete, from conception to performance, it was obvious from the crowd’s reaction that those who witnessed it will be laughing for many days to come.
For more information including upcoming performances visit www.thecontemporarytheatre.com.