Theatre Lab Revives 24-Hour Short Play Project In March

By Bill Hirschman

The tradition of staging a 24-hour marathon of theater-making as a fundraiser, first used locally by Naked Stage’s founders in 2008, will continue March 4-5 to support an intern and apprenticeship program at Theatre Lab, the professional resident company of Florida Atlantic University.

Formerly known as The 24-Hour Theatre Project when it was created by Katherine and Antonio Amadeo, the similar initiative will be called The Overnight Theatre Project. The troupe took over the undertaking last May with the Amadeos’ blessings.

Local actors, playwrights, directors, designers and backstage crews volunteer to  write and produce a slate of short plays – mostly comic, some poignant. Beginning Sunday night March 4, they will write through the night, start rehearsals the next morning and present up to nine semi-finished works one time for a paying audience at 7 p.m. Monday, March 5.

The performances will be in the Heckscher Stage in Parliament Hall, 777 Glades Road, on the Boca Raton campus. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the performances being at 7 p.m. Tickets are $24.  To purchase tickets, visit fauevents.com or call the box office at (561) 297-6124.

The event raises funds for Theatre Lab’s Intern & Apprenticeship Program, which provides paid internships in various aspects of professional theatre to college-age students.

The Amadeos used the community-bonding event to raise funds for small theaters in the region and once to raise money for an ailing colleague. They left the area for Colorado last summer.

In other news, Theatre Lab has been raising donations through a new campaign dubbed the Theatre Lab Inner Circle.

The company has announced that The Wick Theatre has become the second corporate donor to the fund. The theater and the earlier donor Sun Trust both donated $1,000. Ironically, the Wick produces only mainstream warhorses while Theatre Lab develops and produces only new American plays.