For the 10th time, I took part as a writer in Overnight Sensations, the 24-hour play festival sponsored by Hollins University and Mill Mountain Theatre. I’ve also taken part in five other timed writing events at other theatres, so this was my 15th overall. A previous post showed went what down on Friday night.
What you don’t see are pictures of me writing Friday night and into early Saturday morning. In terms of a firm idea, I had what might have been my latest start ever but my earliest finish (12:30 a.m.) Once I get an idea, I can write pretty fast. I’ll explain more about what I wrote in another post.
Here’s how things went down Saturday morning and early afternoon.
We writers gathered at 8 a.m. for a meeting with our director, followed by a production meeting led by technical director Shelby Love (in the chair on stage). This went over the order of the shows (which sometimes is dictated by production needs), how transitions will work, and any production details — light cues, sound cues, etc.
Director Richie Cannaday.
Richie looks at the stage and tries to envision blocking.
11 a.m.: The actors start to arrive. Live theatre is powered by free food.
Actors Bryan Hancock and Mike Allen in the lobby, looking over their respective scripts while they eat.
Every group heads off to their assigned rehearsal space. Here’s the first read-through of my script. From left behind the table: Bryan Hancock, Mary Jean Levin, Sherilyn Lawson, Sophica Menconi, Mack Burns. That’s director Richie Cannaday at right and Gabe Gilbertson in the foreground.
Another view of the read-through.
Every group gets an assigned time on the stage. For my group, this came about 1 p.m., after we’d done two table reads. Richie used the time to work through blocking. Then he and the actors rehearsed to their rehearsal room — and I went home to sleep.
dwayneyancey 