<p>Had the opportunity last night to attend the culminating performances in an event titled “24 Hours” held by Parallax Theatre Company. Founded by UArts grad Ryan Touhey in March 2009, Parallax has emerged as a dynamic and thought provoking new theatre company in Philadelphia with a mix of established and original new works receiving a lot of acclaim and recognition in the Philadelphia Theatre scene. For anyone who is interested, here’s their link: <a href=“http://www.ParallaxTheatreCo.org/ParallaxTheatreCo./Home.html[/url]”>http://www.ParallaxTheatreCo.org/ParallaxTheatreCo./Home.html</a></p>
<p>“24 Hours” was an extraordinarily creative approach to blend some fund raising with the staging of performances. Over a period of 24 hours, a team of writers, directors, production managers and actors gathered to create and stage 5 1 act dramas and a 1 act musical. Six writers, 6 directors, 6 production managers, 19 actors, 2 producers, a stage manager and lighting designer, drawn from a variety of Philadelphia area theatre companies, some from as far as NYC and many from the UArts community. The process started at 7 pm on Friday when everyone gathered to socialize and get to know each other. Then the theme of the project was announced: create a 1 act based on a selection of 50 headlines from the last 24 hours. Each writer picked a headline to use as a prompt, the directors and writers paired off, they then selected the actors (3 for each drama and 4 for the musical) and then at 10 pm the writers left to start writing their plays. At 7:30 am on Saturday, the writers, directors and actors gathered, the actors were given their scripts, and for the rest of the day, all of the details involved in the production, staging and rehearsing of 6 original 1 acts were undertaken. At 8 pm, the show opened to a capacity crowd at UArts Caplan Theatre in the Terra Building.</p>
<p>From the perspective of the audience, it was a wonderful experience. Some riotously funny, others seriously thought provoking, all of them well acted and staged, the plays gave the audience an extremely enjoyable opportunity to experience the creative process in a very different way. There was something very exciting and fresh to watch productions which had the raw energy of a piece not vetted through weeks of rehearsals and “finishing”. From speaking to those involved in the productions, from writers to the actors, the immersion in such an intensely focused collaborative creative process was an incredibly exhilarating experience. </p>
<p>And congrats to bktheatre’s D who played the daughter in “Hazardous to the Body”, about toxic waste and the different sides of the impact it has on the lives of families and our society.</p>
<p>I was just about to ask if you attended, seeing your D was also in this. My D. had a fabulous time, and loved being part of the entire experience. She also learned alot. </p>
<p>My D was confused about the topic of her play at first, until the writer showed up and told them it was supposed to be funny, an irony if you will. After that, it seemed to make more sense to her. What did you think of it? She felt the challenge of one of her fellow actors not seeming to be committed during the process, learning to get beyond that, and just focus on doing the best she could. It was such an exhiliarating experience that she was on cloud nine long after it was over.</p>
<p>What was your D in, a play or the musical? What was hers about?
You are so lucky to be living in or near Philly so you can attend these things. My husband and I would love to be living close especially as our S is making his way there as well, interning and working in theater, but on the playwrighting, and directing side so far. It’s been a wonderful experience so far.</p>
<p>“Hazardous to the Body” was indeed a dark comedy dealing with toxic waste dumping and warehousing. Here, the character of the father earned a living by storing the waste on his property, causing his daughter (your D) to become gravely ill. The father was torn with conflict between his need to earn a living to support his family and the deleterious effect his living was having on his daughter. His solution, denial of her illness which leads to the comedic elements of the show. The play was a little rough around the edges because of the 3 characters, only your daughter was “off book”. The other 2 kept their scripts at hand a referred to them frequently. Your daughter clearly was the best prepared of the actors in the play.</p>
<p>My daughter was in a play called “Death Does Not Deter the Jellyfish Sting” in which she played the wife of a couple living down south who, just as a tornado is about to hit, are visited by a strange “yankee” woman who is is a yoga teacher traveling with a psychic jellyfish who she channels and who grants answers to 3 questions. I would have loved to see the news story on which this one was based! The production was definitely a great learning experience for those involved. My daughter likened the experience to something like the “big bang” theory where all of these creative forces came together, compressed and then exploded from chaos into order. 
She had a blast doing it and found it very gratifying.</p>
<p>MichaelNKat, you might want to post a portion of this info in the Theatre/Drama Majors forum. Some people might be interested who would never run across it here.</p>
<p>We live in the Philadelphia area. My son is a student in an acting program in Massachusetts, but he was very interested indeed to learn about Parallax and how they will be producing the work of Sarah Kane in the upcoming Fringe Festival, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks MIchael for your input. I’m glad your D had such a great time with this experience as well. My D’s next project is a children’s play at the Fringe…she’s had an amazing summer!</p>