Photo courtesy of FST, pictured: Screenshot of New Play Dash participants (left) and Sarah Durham (right).

At 6pm last Saturday night, FST writers, directors and students deliberately signed up for a 24-hour, sleepless panic attack. With randomized prompts and assigned teams, the group of professional and amateur theatre nuts embarked on a creative sprint to write, rehearse and perform plays for the ubiquitous Zoom platform. Called the 24-hour New Play Dash, the event offered its participants the chance to test their creativity against the clock and push the boundaries of what Zoom theatre can be.

The eight writing teams assembled had until 6 am Sunday to turn in their draft of the play. Throughout the night, teams could contact FST dramaturges for questions on plot, structure and dialogue, fine-tuning their stories as much as possible under duress. “We really wanted to focus on collaboration,” says Sarah Durham, an FST staff member with sketch-writing and stand-up experience. At 8 am on Sunday, each team began rehearsals, with last-minute changes continuing as each play was developed. “I’ve done some 24-hour play festivals in the past and a 48-hour film festival too,” says Durham, “and the experience is always exhausting but rewarding."

The fruits of the festival’s frantic labor began at 6pm on Sunday with performances of each play in front of a virtual audience of friends and family. Student-writers were urged to make the most of the Zoom format, and all manner of tricks were used to incorporate the digital platform. Some plays utilized the background feature to create a faux set, with one play using a background of fire to represent its infernal setting. In other cases, actors gave the impression of handing objects to each other. “We wanted the writers to really try and make the most of those little boxes on the screen,” says Durham.

The performances wrapped up around 8 pm with only the final play succumbing to a major technical difficulty beyond the errant muted microphone. “Technology was definitely the biggest challenge for us,” Durham says, “most people aren’t really using Zoom on a daily basis, so the technology gap can be a big obstacle to overcome.” Still, Durham is happy with the way it went in spite of the minor hiccups.

“New play development is the lifeblood of FST,” she says, “and I think this is an event we’ll continue to develop and do again.”

Photo courtesy of FST, pictured: Screenshot of New Play Dash participants (left) and Sarah Durham (right).

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