From dawn to dusk: The 24-hour theater showcase

Students perform in the 24-hour theatre showcase on Oct. 19. Photo by Mac Childers.

One and done! In case you missed it, Friday, Oct. 20 was Willamette's fall 2024 24-hour theater showcase. Writers and actors arrived at the theater at 8 p.m. on Oct. 19, just 24 hours before the play was to be performed in front of an audience of their peers. The writers picked actors and had until 6 a.m. to take inspiration from their costumes and make a play. Directors arrived at 7 a.m. to choose the scripts, and actors arrived an hour after that to begin a long day of rehearsals. The product? Five short plays created and performed in just 24 hours.

Opening the show for the night was “Planet Monk” written by Arlo Craft (’26) and directed by Caleb Lute (’27). Introducing the audience to two new contrasting earths within the multiverse, the play is set on Earth Y, and the plot revolves around Earth Monk, an earth populated by bisexual monks that are stirring up chaos on Earth Y. Ava Hultquist (’28) and Xander Taschioglou (’27) portrayed lovers from each of these respective worlds. At first, it is unknown to both the audience and Hultquist’s character that her lover is a bisexual monk. When this is revealed, despite the discourse between their universes, they unite, celebrating their love by dancing with a rainbow slinky.

The second play of the night posed a modern dilemma in a medieval setting. In “Relationships are easy (better thyself),” written by Vincent Tzu-wei Shillings (’26) and directed by Blue Kalmbach (’27), a maiden, played by Talulah PB (’28), is plagued with a slew of disappointing portraits from suitors. A newly sentient doll, Elise Fashimpaur (’25), presents her with an eligible bachelorette looking to sweep her off her feet: Baba Yaga, a cannibalistic witch from Slavic folklore, brought to life by Amelia Woolsey (’28). Attempting to make the courtship work, the doll puts together an unhelpful but entertaining relationship workshop for Baba Yaga. During these lessons, the maiden does find affection, not for Baba Yaga, but for the doll. Ultimately, no one is happy, as the doll’s heart belongs to another. 

After that came “Don't you forget about me, the prom queen,” written by Mia von Haam (’26) and directed by Isabel Huh (’28). Audience members won’t forget the prom queen or her hilarious grandfather in this short play, during which Izzy Cornelison (’27) and Andrew Henne (’26) dove into the complexities of teenage life, prom and popularity. Gramps follows along for most of his granddaughter’s ramblings about prom, but loses her at times, at one point cutting in with “Jellybean, I'm gonna be so real with you,” to share that he had turned his hearing aid off at some point in the conversation. This power duo eventually gets to prom, only for Grandpa’s little girl to slaughter her peers, taking the prom queen crown for herself.

“Cirque Curieux,” written by Anna Burns (’25) and directed by Caz Janei (’26), took to the stage next with a content warning of clowns. The clown in question is main character Valentina, despite the ringmaster’s insistence on calling her Popsy, who is trapped in the ringmaster’s expectation that she will amount to nothing. Cordelia Roberts (’28) played the clown and Ike Turman (’26) — the only actor in the production who needed no microphone — played her demented ringmaster. This grueling story told a tale of neglect, hardships and murdered mothers, ending in Valentina’s need for revenge and eventual killing of her master.

Finishing off this production was the play “Medieval Proportions,” written by Savanna Starks (’25) and directed by Ella Noel (’25). Giving a whole new importance to respecting minimum wage workers, actors Grae S-R (’26), Naomi Wurtzel (Puget Sound ’26) and Olle Wurtzel (’25) take on the task of bringing to life a medieval restaurant. At this restaurant the waiter leads the two customers through a set of challenges, supposedly ending in a grand prize. For each challenge, the waiter transforms into an otherworldly creature for the customers to slay. On the third challenge, however, there is no monster, and the customers accidentally kill the waiter. This results in the customers taking the waiter's place and continuing his legacy as unenthusiastic minimum-wage waitstaff.

As the plays concluded and the curtains closed, the crowd hooted and hollered for their peers that had just spent the last 24 hours putting on the production. This year's showcase came and went leaving audience members waiting until next term for another taste of what their peers and fellow students can accomplish in one short day.