Every year Art In the Public Eye, APE for short, hosts the 24 hour play fest in Glen Falls, NY. It's typically the last Saturday of February. Check out their site! It has all the information and everything else they do. You'll be so much cooler if you check it out and maybe sign up next year!
I know you're wondering what this is, right? Well I was just getting to that.
Simply put, a whole bunch of people come together to make a 1 act play (typically 10 minutes long) in about 24 hours! Seems impossible right? Well you'd be wrong! This event is well planned by Erin Coon the head of APE. She has thought of everything including making a very nice and well organized schedule for everyone to follow.
This year they changed things up a bit and only had 9 teams instead of the typical 10. Everyone came together on Friday for team selection. This is where the theme is revealed and the line that has to be in every play.
The line for every play was, "It is even harder for the average APE to believe he is descended from man." - H.L. Mencken
Beforehand the writers were selected because let's be honest, not everyone can write. Including yours truly...thank you for suffering along with me!
The writers then draw names out of a very fancy fish bowl for their director. After that the same process is done for the actors.
So quite literally, no one know who is on their team, what the script is or what the theme even is until now!
After the team selection they all break off to get to know each other as fast as possible...very similar to speed dating but more involved! And right before they leave comes my part. I have to get a team photo of everyone, edit and send them to Erin ASAP. These photos are posted in the lobby area to give faces to the names. Plus that way the audience members really know who they are voting for!
All day Saturday is spent learning lines, blocking out the scene and getting props set. Plus another surprise is added in, a special prop that the director has to add into the play. No one knows what it is until Saturday morning. This year the prop was a neon colored APE!
Then at 7pm it's show time! It really is awesome to see practically strangers come together and make something entertaining that seems like more than a day was spent on. I highly recommend checking it out for yourself! But in the mean time please enjoy the pictures I took from this year's performances!
Check out all the photos here! https://micarrstudio.pixieset.com/ape24hourplayfest2019/
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