This weekend, I participated in an annual theatre experiment at my university: the 10 Minute Play Festival.

The Patriot Players, our student theatre group on campus, finds people willing to act, direct, stage manage, and write. We all come together and make art essentially out of thin air. In twenty-four hours, a play is written and presented to an audience. Doing this is so difficult and so stressful--but it reminds us of why we do theatre and why we do art. It is exciting, stressful, beautiful, and such a wonderful way to learn about the world around us.

On that night, the actors audition with a monologue and the production teams are put together. This year, we decided to do four plays. The playwright, stage manager, and director watch the actor auditions and figure out which actors they want to work with. Then, the playwriting begins!

The production teams and actors go home while the writers make a 10 Minute Play based on their actors and an overall theme that has been chosen. The writers will work on these plays all night until the production team comes in the morning to read them. Usually, this can take years to perfect, but they are sent off to write in a few hours. No pressure.

The actors join and the baton is given to the director to block and work on character development. Usually, this process takes several weeks or months to work on, but we only had a day. The actors will memorize their lines and blocking in just a few hours and the stage managers make sure that everyone stays sane--scheduling breaks and meetings.

I stage managed this year, and my cast and crew were wonderful. My playwright wrote a gripping play about 2 teenagers, seemingly just breaking up, but with a dark twist titled “Carousel." The cast consisted of 2 talented and driven actors who successfully presented the show with only a few hours of work and development.

The theme of our festival was “Teenagers and Technology,” but the other plays also focused on dark matters, such as mental illness, suicide, and poverty. This was so telling of our place in society and what we think is important to change and highlight.

The Ten Minute Play Festival presented by the Patriot Players at Francis Marion University was an incredible experience, reminding us of why we do theatre in the first place and why we surround ourselves with artists. We do this to enrich our lives through open-mindedness and hard work. I encourage you to participate in something like this.