48 Hour Play Festival

Calling all playwrights, directors, and actors!

As part of Exit 7 Players’ exciting 40th season, we will be hosting a 48-hour play festival. Over the course of a weekend, a collection of original short plays will be written, produced, and performed. Interested?  Here are the details:

At 7:00pm on January 12, our event hosts, Zack and Devin, will go live on social media to kick off the festival by announcing the prompt for all participating writers. The prompt will include a few elements that must be included in the submitted scripts. This keeps the writing element of the competition fair and no one will have a head start. Playwrights will have 24 hours to write and submit a short play (approximately 10 minutes in length).

On the evening of January 13, our preselected directors (see process for becoming director below) will meet at the theater to select which of the submitted plays they would each like to direct. Unfortunately, not all submitted plays will be produced due to time and space limitations. All interested actors will audition with a one minute monologue of their choice between 5:00pm and 7:00pm. Actors will not be auditioning for specific plays or roles as the plays will not be selected until after the audition. Actors will be called that night if they are cast for a play.

Bright and early (9:00am) on January 14, actors will meet their director and castmates over donuts and coffee and prepare for an ambitious rehearsal/performance day. Selected writers are also welcome, though directors will have full creative power. Other than breaks for lunch and dinner, the day will be spent working on the plays—blocking, memorizing lines, costuming, and rehearsing. Each cast will be working simultaneously in the theater.

After the dinner break on January 14, actors and directors will have a 7:00pm call time. The curtain goes up at 8:00pm. This event will be open to the general public. The order of the plays will be chosen by event staff for a cohesive presentation. Following the performance, awards will be given to celebrate the success of all our participants.

Sign up for the event will take place between December 29 and January 8. Your commitment allows us to assess how many plays can be produced during the festival. A small amount of paperwork will need to be completed prior to your participation, and you will be asked to decide what role (writer, director, or actor) you are interested in. You may choose multiple roles, but if you are selected as a director, you will not be able to participate in any other capacity. Interested directors will be interviewed virtually on January 9 and 10, and decisions will be made by January 11. Participants must be 16 or older.

Experience is not required for participation; we hope this will be a great opportunity for all.