IWU Theatre Guild Celebrates the 10th Annual 24-Hour Theatre Festival

By Andrew Scalf and Coleton Pratt

Indiana Wesleyan University’s Theatre Guild hosted its tenth annual 24-Hour Theatre Festival this weekend. The event pulled together high school and college students, challenging them to write, direct and perform an original play over the course of 24 hours. 

The event began on September 13 at 7 p.m. with actors participating in improv games. “During the improvisation games, the writers are observing all of the actors do all kinds of these crazy, wacky things, and in doing so, they can be inspired,” Jaykob Parsons, a director in this year’s event, said. “It’s entirely up to the writer, and then it’s up to the director to interpret.” 

After the improv games, the actors and directors were dismissed while the writers stayed up through the night creating a completely original play.

“It’s a very quick turnaround and lots of chaos is happening. Lots of coffee, lots of caffeine,” Lindsay Rice, technical director of theatre, said. 

Everybody gets involved while working on the shows — from improv to writing to prop management.

“One aspect that a lot of the kids like is the actors are asked to bring some kind of object or trinket for a prop. So whatever they bring, no one knows until the day of, and the writers have to somehow pick one of those props and incorporate it into their script,” Rice said. 

Outside of incorporating a prop, there is no required genre or theme for the plays written in 24-Hour Theatre.

 “They’re going to laugh. They’re probably going to tear up a couple times. There’s going to be moments where you’re like; that is the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life, and there are going to be moments where you’re like; oh, that tugs on the heartstrings,” Katie Schloener, a director for this year’s event, said. 

In celebration of this being the tenth year of this event, there were a few extra surprises for the festival. A highschool theatre teacher has been attending this event with her class every year, and to honor her dedication, she received a special theatre themed blanket as a gift. 

The Theatre Festival still occurred in spite of the budget cuts to IWU’s Division of Music and Theatre, which shrank the theatre department significantly. 

“We sadly had to say goodbye to my second boss, Dr. Katie Wampler, so we only have one official theatre professor,” said Rice. “I work with my boss, Dr. Steve Wood, and we try to create a really creative and welcoming environment for the students.”