The Instant Play Festival that happened on Saturday, Sept. 22, at 8 p.m. in the Harper Joy Theater left the audience eager and wanting for more in 10 minute intervals, 7 times. What separates the IPF from mainstream plays, if there are ever any mainstream plays, is that the whole production is created in a span of 24 hours, yet does not seem like it. Another great thing about it is the prompts that were given to participants at 6:30 p.m. last Friday night, about 24 hours before the performances started. This year, the three things that had to be included in each performance were: an exchange between the characters without any words that lasted for at least 20 seconds and had no upper limit, a handkerchief, and alluding to a line or a name from popular and classic literature. The first of these three things was portrayed in a myriad of ways, including really weird dances and even weirder handshakes. The aspect of IPF that beats everything else, though, is the effort that goes on behind the scenes.

One of the writers of the play, Donovan Olsen, who has been a director for the IPF before, shared their experience with The Wire.

“It’s always amazing to see what can be done in a single day if you have a group of people who are really dedicated to what they’re doing. It’s just kind of like a whirlwind experience. I really enjoy the challenge of directing because I had no idea what I was walking into, I had no idea whose play I’m directing, what my cast would be like so it’s all very … kind of spur of the moment,” Olsen said. “I think that is slightly less stressful for me than being a writer since you have to generate all of that [writing], and as a writer you’re aware that there is this group of people; you have directors and actors who are going to spend a day of their life working on something you’ve written, so you want it to be enjoyable, memorable for them, and you want the audience to enjoy it. It is a very specific kind of pressure to know that something you’ve written will so quickly be worked on and seen by people. Last time, we got out prompts at like 9:30 p.m. and I finished writing and submitted my play around 5 a.m. I took a lot of breaks and I would talk with other people who are writing and we would help each other problem solve.”

An interesting aspect is that the Instant Play Festival is for amateurs and experts alike. Helena Platt, one of the directors for this year’s plays told the Wire about directing for the first time. “This year, I tried directing because I’ve never done it before. I emailed Anthony [Reale] and was like, ‘Hey! Are you guys looking for any directors?’ And he was like yaass and um so I just became a director with zero experience. And I walked up to Jessica Cerulo the day of the IPF in the morning, and asked her ‘hey um I’ve never exactly directed before, is there anything I should know or anything you wanna tell me?’ And she just like paused and looked into my eyes and said, ‘Everything in your life has prepared you for this’ and then just left. So, yeah. I just jumped into it. I always feel very limited by my own creativity when acting because I know that what my character does is only the extent of what I can think of them doing, but for directing, you get to see other people’s creativity and help them express it and find out how it interacts with a certain configuration of people. My cast did SO Well! I cried. [sic] IPF is good I love it [sic],” Platt said.

Evan Marks offered an actor’s point of view. “So we show up at 8:45 and that day we learn who we are cast with, and we learn the script, and then for the next twelve hours, that’s the main thing we’re focusing on. It feels stressful, but it always ends up working out and always ends up being fun. The scariest thing coming into it is memorizing lines,” Marks said. 

The technical part of IPF often requires effort that goes unnoticed. Eva Sullivan, an actor in the IPF last year, told the Wire, “I am the props coordinator, so basically I will be there in the morning before the actors arrive and I’ll check everything in the loft, and maybe pull some things out. They get assigned the plays and they’re free to rehearse, and from 11:00 to 1:00 we open the loft, and I am there for directors to come get things. I’m excited because I haven’t done much tech.”

With its well-managed stage, colorful lights and great sound, plus a mellow band to keep the audience company, the instant play festival was a success. The events had audience alternately gasping, guffawing and caught up in moments of deep contemplation.