24-7 Play Festival Report

On August 11-12th, in just 24 hours, 7 new 10-minute plays were written and performed before an audience, with artists from theaters throughout the Tucson community invited to write, direct, and act.

The Festival Report

On Friday night, August 11th, at 10:00 PM, seven playwrights (or playwriting teams) were be given three common prompts for plays (a starting line of “Um…You finished?”, an LP record, and a horn sound effect) and the gender/age compositions of their assigned cast. Their coffee cups were filled and they were be given the directive that they can leave the writing chambers only when handing over a completed 10-minute play — or the arrival of 6:00 AM, whichever comes first. This year the last playwright finished at 5:00am.

On Saturday morning, August 12th, at 8:00 AM, the directors arrived to discover their new scripts, roles, and assignments. At 8:30 AM the actors joined too. After a brief warmup and receiving their instructions, rehearsals began.

At 12:15pm, we began the tech process with 45 minutes for each play. At 7pm we held our opening show and at 9pm our closing show.

An awards ceremony was held at the conclusion of the festival. The awards were be selected by our panel of judges, The Secret Seven, who sat anonymously sitting in the audience. The audience, selected the winner of the Audience Choice Award through our pseudoscientific Applause-o-matic process. 

In addition, the awards, lovingly called “The Scampys” were be given for:

Best Actor - Dramatic
Best Actor - Comedic
Best Direction
Best Script
Most Creative Use of a Prompt


The Plays of the 2023 24-7 Play Festival

A Confrontation in Regards to a Curse

by Miles Chandler
Directed by Matt Denney
GUS………..………………………..……Joe Smith
DIANA…………………………….….…Liisa Rose
VALARIE….Samantha Severson

Relativity

by GD Wirges
Directed by Gabriella De Brequet
SARAH JANE…….Carol Osborne
PETER………..……….Mike Manolakes
COLE……………….……Dennis Tamblyn

On The Radio

by Zink (aka David Zinke)
Directed by Sean Patrick
JULIE………..Callie Hutchison
DANNY…….…Tyler Gastelum
DONNA…………….Anne Dalton 

Simple As That

by Dennis O’Dell
Directed by Zachary Austin
LANDIS/HUEY……Carlisle Ellis
LOIS……………………....…….…Ellie Vougt
SHARI………………..……Hailee Kayfes

The Sit-Down

by Evan Taylor
Directed by Rae Williams
GEORGIA……Karen Alexander
DIANE……………..…….Denise Blum
DANNY…………………………Tim Foran

I Could Have Danced

by Susan Arnold
Directed by Kevin Johnson
CLAUDIA….….Abigail Dunscomb
WALTER………...….Steven Dunham
LILLITH…….……………….…Halsy Taylor

The End of the World (As We Know It)

by Amanda Tennyson
Directed by Sam Rush
SHARON.…..….Kat McIntosh
WAYNE………Paul Hammack 
ALIEN…………..……Zach Wetzel


The 2023 Scampy Awards

Best Actor - Dramatic

Winner: Dennis Tamblyn in Relativity
Honorable Mention: Callie Hutchison in On the Radio and Carlisle Ellis in Simple as That
Nominees: Carol Osborne, Abigail Dunscomb, Tyler Gastelum

Best Actor - Comedic

Winner: Zach Wetzel in The End of the World (As We Know It)
Honorable Mention: Paul Hammack in The End of the World (As We Know It)
Nominees: Kat McIntosh, Anne Dalton, Halsy Taylor, Samantha Severson

Best Direction

Winner: Sean Patrick for On the Radio
Honorable Mention: Sam Rush for The End of the World (As We Know It)
Nominees: Kevin Johnson, Gabriella De Brequet

Best Script

Winner: The End of the World (As We Know It) by Amanda Tennyson
Honorable Mention: I Could Have Danced by Susan Arnold and The Sit Down by Evan Taylor
Nominees: Relativity by GD Wirges, On the Radio by David Zinke

MOST Creative Use of Prompts

Winner: Zink (David Zinke) for On The Radio
Honorable Mention: Miles Chandler for A Confrontation in Regards to a Curse
Nominees: Evan Taylor for The Sit-Down, Amanda Tennyson for End of the World (As We Know It), Susan Arnold for I Could Have Danced, Miles Chandler for A Confrontation in Regards to a Curse

The Audience Choice Award

Winner: End of the World (As We Know It) by Amanda Tennyson, directed by Sam Rush, with Kat McIntosh, Paul Hammack & Zach Wetzel
Honorable Mention: Relativity by GD Wirges directed by Gabriella De Brequet, with Carol Osborne, Mike Manolakes & Dennis Tamblyn


The Production Team

Producers
Bryan Rafael Falcón
Elizabeth Falcón
Annika Maher

Lighting Designer
Raulie Martinez

Stage Manager
Aidyn Corkell

Light Board Operatior
Willow Elyria Falcón

Box Office
Betsy Labiner & Anthony Tellez


Special Thanks

The Secret Seven
Amy Smith, Doug Smith, Chris Byrne & EXO Roast Co.
Shawn Burke, Morty Bustos, Kevin Salary & The Historic Y
Joe McGrath, Cindy Meier & The Rogue Theater
David Robinson, Kim Lopez & Tucson Audubon Society
Kate Morgan & Earlham College Border Studies Program 
Shelly Maher
Willow & Sebastian Falcón
The Playwrights, Directors and Actors of 24-7