COLUMBIA — Imagine five teams of students. All of them are theater amateurs.
Imagine them locked in a room. Writing. Creating. Acting. Succumbing to the art of theater.
A 24-hour deadline.
One shared goal: To create awareness-building plays in 24 hours.
This weekend Stephens College students will embark on a theatrical adventure — the 24-hour Play Challenge for a Cause. Participants are asked to defy time and put aside the perfectionism that is often inherent to the nature of an actor. This time the rules of the stage have changed.
The event is all about creating a discussion, said Rachel Ellersieck, a Stephens College student and organizer and creator of the event.
"We want the plays to build awareness about global issues," Ellersieck said. "This year the topic is alternative energy."
The marathon of creativity kicks off at 8 p.m. Saturday, when issue-driven prompts are handed out to each team. The playwrights have until 10 a.m. Sunday to turn in their scripts. Then the actors and directors rehearse the 10-minute plays until their debut, which will be at 8 p.m. Sunday at Stephens College's Warehouse Theatre.
This is the second year for the 24-hour Play Challenge.
“The global issue was then gang violence,” Ellersieck said. “I’m hoping we’ll have one next semester, too!”
The event initially started as an assignment for a global ethics class in April.
“The challenge is to build awareness about global issues while giving theater students of all ages a chance to be creative,” said Ellersieck, former public relations director at Warehouse Theatre.
The plays are free and open to the public.