| ~ THE 24-HOUR PLAYS ~ |
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By far, the most unexpected result of the 24-hour Comics was the emergence of the 24-hour Play.
Tina Fallon of Crux Productions in New York, conceived of the idea as an event for an upcoming Fringe Festival after hearing about the 24-hour Comics from a friend. Her hyper-compression of the theatrical process proved so exhilarating for the participants that it was done again and again and has become something of a tradition (I later found out that my old pal, the legendary Brian Dewan, had been a writer for one of the first, though he had no idea it was related to my comics). As happened with the comics, Tina's idea soon spread beyond Crux and eventually beyond New York to other cities and even countries! There have been over 300 24-Hour plays as of May 2002. In mid-1998, my wife Ivy and five of her former teen improv students (now grown) teamed-up to bring the process full-circle by putting on a 24-hour play of their own. While Tina's New York invention had packed all of the elements of the theatrical business (including 8 x 10's, auditions, full written scripts, etc.) into a 24 hour period to create very short plays, Ivy and her "kids" took a route closer to the comics tradition and created and performed a full 70 minute play all by themselves in the 24-hour period. Ivy and I have always been honest with each other. If I'd thought it stunk, she knew I would let her know. Fortunately, I didn't have to. It was fantastic.
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