Project #4

1. 24 Hour Plays

Otero Junior College

April 12th, 2008

"Otero Junior College students had an opportunity to burn some midnight oil on April 12th. They created and produced two one act plays within a 24 hour time span. Sponsored by the Otero Players and the Arts Department at OJC, the process began at 7 p.m. on Friday April 11th with curtain time set for 7 p.m. on Saturday April 12th in the Ed Stafford Theatre. The original productions were open to the public at no charge."

http://www.ojc.edu/StudentProductions.aspx

I believe this to be unconventional because not many productions are put on within such a short time span. This involves a complete show (costumes, lighting, script, etc.) all being done within a day. It is not very common, but I would love to participate in one of these some day. I am sure everyone learns a lot.

2. Elevator Repair Service
Gatz
PAST PERFORMANCES
Nov 2008 Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Nov 2008 EMPAC, Troy NY
Sep 2008 Ulster Bank Theatre Festival, Dublin
Sep 2007 On The Boards, Seattle
Sep 2007 PICA TBA Festival, Portland
Sep 2007 Live Arts Festival, Philadelphia
Jun 2007 Culturgest, Lisbon
Jun 2007 Vienna Festival, Vienna
Dec 2006 Studio Bergen/Teatergarasjen, Bergen
Dec 2006 Trondelag Theater, Trondheim
Dec 2006 Black Box Theater, Oslo
Sep 2006 The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Aug 2006 Zurcher Theater Spektakel, Zurich
Jun 2006 The Holland Festival, Amsterdam
May 2006 KunstenFESTIVALdesArts, Brussels

"6 hours long and with a cast of 13, Gatz is by far ERS's most ambitious endeavor yet — not a stage adaptation of Fitzgerald's novel but a verbatim reading of the entire book, accomplished by the staff of a small office in the midst of their increasingly bewildering business operations."

http://elevator.org/shows/show.php?show=gatz

This show is very unconventional. It ends up being 7 hours long, with a one hour dinner break for the audience, and only has 13 cast members. The most unconventional part of it though is that it is a direct reading of The Great Gatsby. I have not heard of many plays that are a direct reading of a book, and would say that this is a bit out of the box.

3. Foolsgold Theatre Company
Alice in Wonderland

Fort Meirion Village August 6th-9th 2008.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3294/3046839146_2db16c62cf.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/25985568%40N04/3046839146/&usg=__jaBWCB3P_npv-l9S0C4h7vmnzM4=&h=334&w=500&sz=165&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=w7tljY9WRvpumM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dalice%2Bin%2Bwonderland%2Bfoolsgold%2Btheatre%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7SUNA%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

Foolsgold Theatre Company's production of Alice in Wonderland was unconventional based on their choice of space. They performed it in parks and sometimes even in underground spaces they found. They encouraged people to bring picnics and eat while watching. This is not typical of formal theatre.

4. Naked on Stage

University of St. Andrews

Alternate Endings

2005

"Alternate Endings is a one-hour performance in which every night (for two weeks) two different original short stories are presented and a one-act play is performed. Following with the title Alternate Endings, every evening this same one act play will have a different ending, so that patrons can return multiple times for a completely different experience."

http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~kl86/presents.shtml

I believe this to be unconventional because usually performances are consistant each night in formal theatre unless something goes horribly wrong. So to have different endings each night would be something uncommon. I personally think that it is a great idea and a way to keep people coming back to your shows. It is like a new show every night!

5. The Neo-Futurists

Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind

December 2, 1988 (first performance)

"Too Much Light..., with its ever-changing "menu," is an attempt to perform 30 plays in 60 minutes. The single unifying element of these plays is that they are performed from a perspective of absolute honesty. We always appear as ourselves on stage, speaking directly from our personal experiences."

http://www.neofuturists.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=45

This show is entirely unconventional with the aspect that it claims to try to fit 30 plays in 60 minutes, and that it is based on personal experiences of actors. Also, that each week the actors continue to add things to the show. It is constantly shifting and changing, so it is never the same show for a long amount of time. The show is even sometimes themed around holidays, such as Mother's Day or Halloween.