Pictured: Performers rehearse for this year's Got A Minute? 60-second play festival. Photo courtesy of The Players Center for Performing Arts.

Founder Jeffery Kin and the Eclectic Theater Company come to the Players Centre for Performing Arts, where Kin also serves as artistic director, this weekend for the return of Got A Minute?, a theatrical fundraising festival of 60-second plays with all proceeds going towards organizations furthering the fight against cancer. With a preview show this Friday afternoon, the festival kicks off in earnest on Saturday, followed by a gala and live auction.

Putting out a nationwide call for one-minute plays, Kin and his cohorts received more than 100 submissions from around the world, and of those around 30 were ready for production. (Writing a 60-second play is “harder than it seems,” says Kin.) Combining those with 20 or so revived “oldies but goodies” from past festivals and the inclusion of a handful of musical acts—including an appearance from The Players Flash Tappers—and the festival rounds out to a total of 60 performances playing over the stage. “It’s a little bit of everything,” says Kin, from monologues to shared scenes, drama to comedy. Some of the plays “are literally jokes” with a brief setup, a little bit of delivery and then a punchline at the end. “Which is great,” Kin says, “because we don’t want the benefit to ever be a downer. It’s a positive, uplifting event.”

Last produced in 2010, Got A Minute? began five years prior, when Kin’s mother was diagnosed with cancer, and in the ensuing half-decade Got A Minute? festivals raised more than $125,000 towards cancer research and treatment. With The Players’ responsibilities mounting and Kin’s mother recovering (still strong and cancer-free today, he reports), the festival went on hiatus. But when a member of The Players family received a similar diagnosis, Kin knew the hiatus was over. “Listening to [my colleague] dealing with this disease and with the bills and the amount of money things cost—it’s just frightening,” he says. “It was time to jump in, to revive the show. It’s an important part of what The Players does well, which is giving back to the community.”

With all operating staff and performing artists working on a volunteer basis, this “kindness of strangers” enables 100 percent of the festival proceeds to further the fight against cancer, says Kin. Benefitting organizations include the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life, Rob’s Rescue Foundation and One Of Our Own.

The Got A Minute? 60-second play festival begins with a preview at the Players Centre for Performing Arts on Friday, November 26, at 7:30pm and tickets are $25. The official festival runs Saturday, November 27, at 7:30pm, followed by an after party and live auction, and tickets are $35.

Pictured: Performers rehearse for this year's Got A Minute? 60-second play festival. Photo courtesy of The Players Center for Performing Arts.