The Newman University Theatre Department will hold the first of what is planned to be an annual event, a 24-hour Theatre Project. The activity will begin Feb. 3 and finish with performances of original productions at 8 p.m. Feb. 4, in the Jabara Flexible Theatre, inside the De Mattias Fine Arts Center on the Newman campus.
Newman faculty, students and staff participating in the project will assemble on Friday, Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. in Jabara Theatre. Participants will be randomly assigned to teams, each consisting of a director, playwright, and actors. At 8 p.m. on Feb. 3, the playwrights of each team will begin writing a new short play, approximately 10 minutes in length, which kicks off the 24-hour process. The next morning at 8 a.m. the directors and actors will begin rehearsing the play. At 8 p.m., 24 hours after the writing began, the plays are produced for a live audience.
“It is high octane theatre, all the energy and excitement of the theatre process packed into 24 hours,” stated project coordinator and Newman Director of Theatre Mark Mannette. Manette has previously participated as an actor, director, and playwright in this type of project many times.
Each team’s final play will be performed beginning at 8 p.m. Feb. 4 in Jabara Theatre. Newman University faculty, students, and staff as well as the general public are invited to attend the event. Tickets are $2 for everyone. The proceeds will benefit the Sloppy Joes Improv Troupe.
The Sloppy Joes is an improvisation-comedy group made up of Newman students. The troupe competed in a regional competition this past weekend in Kansas City.
The Sloppy Joes Improv Troup includes:
Sara Ast – Colwich, Kan.
Rebekah Baldridge – Wichita, Kan.
Ian Cummings – Gillette, N.J.
Francisco “Pancho” Fields – Newton, Kan.
Andrew Hild – Bel Air, Kan.
Brittany Jonas – Imperial, Mo.
Peter Niedhart – Dodge City, Kan.
Lyle Valentine – Derby, Kan.
Jody Whitley – Wichita
For more information on the production or the Newman theatre program, contact Mannette at 316-942-4291, ext. 2486, or [email protected].
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