The 24 Hour Plays, created for the last three years by the Southwestern College Theatre Department, will be a new collaborative project this year as Southwestern and Cowley College students and faculty work together for 24 hours to create a full evening of theatre that includes six 10-minute plays. The end-of-the-“day” performance will be presented Saturday, Aug. 29, at 7:30 p.m., in the Richardson Performing Arts Center on the Southwestern campus. The event was originally created and is now licensed by “24 Hour Plays,” a New York organization that gives structures, guidelines, timelines, and suggestions to work out details.

Starting at 9:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 28, playwrights, actors, directors, assistant directors, and technicians will begin. Parents, friends, and community members are invited to attend as individuals meet. At 11 p.m., playwrights choose actors for their plays and begin writing while the rest of the company sleeps. Playwrights finish their plays by morning, and at 7 a.m., directors and technical directors return. The remainder of participants return at 8 a.m. Actors and technicians work all day to create the for the 7:30 p.m. performance, with everyone striking the sets and costumes, and cleaning the theatre following.

The plays are written for general audiences. General admission tickets are available at the door for $5 for adults and $2 for students.

 “Last fall when John Sefel (the new director of theatre at Cowley College) started the year, we got together and found that we had lots of ways we could work together,” says Roger Moon, SC theatre professor. “Organizing and overseeing the 24 hours is very challenging. Though we work to create the plays in this amount of time, the process is very structured and everyone needs a chance to take at least a few hours off for rest – even the supervisors. Working with John, we can manage the 24 hours and neither of us will be exhausted. Together we can divide up the responsibilities of overseeing the playwrights at night and also the development of the scripts during the day.”

 Southwestern College and Cowley College will pool their resources as well as talents to create the plays. SC technical director Brittany Morgan and Cowley technical director Milan Anich will oversee technical operation of the event. Allyson Moon, SC theatre professor, will lead and organize the directors.

“We’re thrilled with the collaboration,” Sefel adds. “Cowley and Southwestern have a strong and long-standing relationship, and many of our students go on to study on their beautiful campus. Just as importantly, the Moons are exceptionally talented theatre artists, and it benefits our students greatly to experience as many teachers, environments, and viewpoints as possible.”

Sefel, a published and produced playwright, is no stranger to new play development. In addition to his own plays, he has edited an anthology of new works, run festivals, and been an associate dramaturg with the New Theatre Works organization.

“We all understand that the lifeblood of the film, music, and TV industry is new work, but sometimes, I think, in theatre we forget that new voices need just as much stage time and exposure as the greats of years past,” Sefel says. “This sort of event not only helps promote new playwrights and encourages audiences to be open to new material, but helps all of our students understand the unique challenges and opportunities involved in working on a brand new script.”

“We are very excited to really get to deeply know the students and faculty at Cowley College, and to have them get to know us,” says Allyson Moon. We have a fabulous reputation for what our four-year students do after graduation, but that is also true for the transfer students when they leave Southwestern after two years. In the arts we know that the push to excellence through high quality collaboration is the best way to success.