SATVIKA NITYA / CONTRIBUTOR

Rehearsing, directing, producing   and    performing    three  plays  in one day  sounds  like an  overwhelmingly stressful and impossible task to accomplish. However, USD Playhouse  took  on   this  seemingly unachievable mission last weekend and made it a success.

USD Playhouse — the student-run theater club on campus — organized its first-ever 12-hour play day at USD’s Blackbox Theatre. The goal of the event was to take multiple student-written plays and showcase them on stage, however, students were challenged to start and finish the whole process within 12 hours. This   includes  auditioning, casting, directing, blocking, rehearsing, lighting, designing sound  and   performing  with  time allotted for obvious necessities  like eating and taking a break. 

USD junior and USD Playhouse’s Director of Marketing   Liv   Meloy  shared  what it was like organizing this event. 

“We actually  had a member – Hailey Powers, who’s a freshman – suggest it, and we thought it was a great idea so we went along with it,” Meloy said. “The logistics were a  little tricky  because  an event like this involves a lot of moving parts. So,  that just  meant we had to delegate and  communicate a lot. The most difficult  thing  about  organizing  this  was  finding  a  day when everyone was available.”

After landing on April 5 as the most convenient day for everyone involved,  the crew  of 11  students  met  at  the  Blackbox Theater and started their work bright and early at 8 a.m. There were three plays chosen to be staged — “Cats playing  Saxophones,”  written by USD junior  Casper  Finnigan, “Loving the Pastor’s Daughter,” written by USD senior Carys Lynch and  “Bottled  Up,”  written by  USD   sophomore  Cat  Nickoli. 

USD students casted, rehearsed and put on three plays for an audience in a 12-hour time period. Photo Courtesy of Liv Meloy

Auditions to play different roles in each of the three plays kicked off the 12-hour process, followed by casting  and directing. Finnegan, who wrote “Cats playing Saxophones,” talked about his experience watching his script in action  on stage. 

“It  feels  so   weird  to  see what I wrote play out on stage, but it   feels   weird   in  a good  way,” Finnegan said. “I wrote my play for a class called Playwriting, and I had a couple of drafts that I workshopped during that time. I also had a hand in casting. I had to think about all the three characters I had in my  play and then pick based  on  the   group   that  we  have   performing.   I  like  the short amount of  time we  had because  I   thrive   under  pressure, and it felt like it was go-time.”

The  plays   included   themes of exploring    trangender     identity and the tense relationship between religion and  sexuality.  They  also  included  dramatic   elements such as talking animals. The genres   were  widespread,  ranging    from   comedy   to    drama. 

In the play “Loving the Pastor’s Daughter,” USD junior Ava Ribando played the role of a teenager conflicted between picking her religion and picking her sexuality. She shared about the difference she felt as an actor, performing under the 12-hour play format.

“This format forces you to get out [of] your  head. You kinda just have to rely on your own  instincts  as  an actor and no one  else’s  input  really  comes in as much,” Ribando said. “When rehearsal is a month-long  process, you hear a lot more  from  your  director and castmates. The  final product is much  more collaborative. In this, you just get to go with it and put on something fun that everyone enjoys. I think there’s merit to both  processes.”

After the actors rehearsed their lines, blocked their movements  on stage  and  became accustomed to  using  props,  it  was  finally time for the lighting and sound to kick in and bring the whole show together. Without a well-built set to transport the audience to the settings, the group used music to identify the mood and sounds to point to key elements in the scene.

USD sophomore Cat Nickoli (left) and senior Carys Lynch (right) in ‘Bottled Up.’ Photo Courtesy of Liv Meloy

USD first-year Jaclyn Gosher,  who    worked  on    running   the   lights   for   the   show, had no experience in the field prior to this production. She spoke  about  her experience, learning   a  whole  new  skill  for  the 12-hour  play day.

“It  was  so  stressful but so fun  because I’ve always  wanted to  do  tech,” Gosher  said. “I  didn’t  actually  sign  up  to  do  this, but I showed up this morning  and was asked if I wanted to do lights and I said sure. I just had  to learn a lot on the fly and  be  very in the moment. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed picking up a new skill.”

After 11 hours of work, the crew opened the doors and handed out  their programs  to the audience at 6:45 p.m.  By  the end  of  the hour, the  audience had  laughed,  gasped  and  hooted  at  multiple  sentimental, comedic and  dramatic moments from all three plays, ending the 12 hours with a standing ovation.

USD students casted, rehearsed and put on three plays for an audience in a 12-hour time period. Photo Courtesy of Liv Meloy