14/48: The World’s Quickest Theater Festival returns to ACT’s Gregory Falls Theatre this month, bringing local and national thespians to Seattle for a theatrical race against time. Spanning two weekends, January 7-9 and 14-16, 14/48 demands 14 completely original works by writers, innovative interpretations by directors, and a culminating showcase–all taking place within 48 hours.
After choosing an overarching theme based on the completion of the sentence “Theatre would be a lot more interesting if there were seven ten-minute plays about _____” on Thursday evening, 14/48 commences its comically haphazard procedure. Seven writers submit a wholly original play by early Friday morning, seven directors choose a play and their players completely randomly, scores are composed and sets are designed, and the shows go up on Friday evening at 8 PM and 10:30 PM. At the earlier performance, the audience randomly assigns a theme for the next night, and the process starts all over for the next 24 hours.
All that to say, Seattle theatre lovers have eight opportunities to experience the raucous results of daring, time-constrained theatre this month. The flash process results in some of the freshest material you’ll see all year. 14/48: TWQTF is just one of the many theatre festivals put on by 14/48 Projects; they have been collaborating with ACT since the inception of this festival in 1997. This event is in partnership with ACTLab, a program that promotes theatrical experimentation and supports emerging artists.
Tickets are $20 online and $25 at the door; check out ACT’s website for details.
14/48: The World’s Quickest Theater Festival at ACT
When: January 8, 9, 15 and 16 at 8 PM and 10:30 PM
Where: ACT Gregory Falls Theatre (700 Union St.)
