“Tropical Depression (there are no Kates involved)” was the title and/or theme of Sunday night’s hugely enjoyable 29 1/2 Hour Playwriting Festival. The event, now in its seventh year and sponsored by City Theatre at Sacramento City College and Synergy Stage, is just what it advertises.
Plays are written, rehearsed and performed in the time it takes most of us to come up with half of an idea. There were eight plays in all, including “Casting Slouch” by Lorne White, “What’s in a Name?” by Jes Gonzales, “Cause and Kate-fect” by Nina Breton, and “Underwater” by Crom Saunders. And they are short - most ran about 10 to 15 minutes.
The idea is mostly for fun, but there’s a lot of craft being learned and put on display as well (go ahead - try and write a 10-minute play; take a whole day). Performers and the standing-room audience alike had great times.
After the final play, festival coordinator Luther Hanson called the actors on stage for a deserved curtain call. He then brought out the writers, directors and, finally, the behind-scenes contributors. It was a master stroke of inclusion by Hanson, who deserves much credit for putting this together along with assistant coordinator Christine Nicholson, Lori Ann DeLappe-Grondin and Mariam Helalian.
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