"SLAM," Plan-B Theatre Company's one-night- (and day-) only experiment in writing, rehearsing and producing five original 10-minute plays, will be presented on Saturday in the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center's Black Box Theatre.
What audiences will see — the culmination of a 24-hour process that begins at 9 p.m. on Friday — is anyone's guess.
According to Artistic Director Jerry Rapier, five well-known local playwrights — Julie Jensen, Tobin Atkinson, Aden Ross, Jeffrey Gold and Eric Samuelsen — will meet Friday night, when five play titles will be drawn out of a hat. Then they'll each have 12 hours to write their individual 10-minute scripts.
Then, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, five directors (Kirt Bateman, Kyle Lewis, Fran Pruyn, Larry West and Robin Wilks-Dunn) will gather with 15 actors to peruse the scripts for the first time.
Most of the actors are well-known to local audiences. They include Tobin Atkinson and his sister Enid, Anita Booher, Kevin Doyle, Barb Gandy, Stephanie Howell, Tony Larimer, Carl Nelson, Shawn Nottingham, Michael Orlando, Jeanette Puhich, Teresa Sanderson, Kay Shean, Christy Summerhays and Wendy Wilde.
They have until 8 p.m. to learn their lines and prepare for a show that will open and close on the same night.
Presumably, the scripts will have very small casts — probably just three or four characters. But any of the 15 performers could have roles in more than one of the five plays.
Obviously, there's no way of telling in advance what kind of "content" the plays will have, but Plan-B has a reputation as the city's "theater alternative," geared toward producing edgy works for adult audiences.
Rapier said the evening is nearly sold out. The Black Box venue seats only 225.
If you go ...
What: "SLAM"
Where: Black Box Theatre, Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. 300 South
When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
How much: $18
Phone: 355-2787
Web site:www.planbtheatrecompany.org
E-mail: ivan@desnews.com