Getting a play on the boards is a bit of insanity. Doing it in 24 hours — including writing the play — is complete, absolute, why-would-you-do-that insanity.
And it's what the Old Pueblo Playwrights have in store for next weekend with their 7th annual Play in a Day.
It all begins at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at the Cabaret Theater at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. It begins calmly enough — with a reading of five short plays, written by OPP members.
Then the madness explodes: 12 playwrights are matched up and broken into six teams. Each team will have until dawn the next day to write a 10-minute play. The audience will come up with a line of dialogue and select three props — all of which must be incorporated into the plays.
Saturday morning, directors choose their casts for the plays and go off for a day of rehearsal.
People are also reading…
Then, at 7:30 that night, Nov. 7, you get the world premiere of six new plays. And face time with some very exhausted people.
It's fun, often funny, and a tad awe-inspiring.
Tickets are $7 a night, or $12 for both nights. Check out www.oldpuebloplaywrights.org or call 318-0559 for more information.
Also on stage this week . . .
• There's murder, mystery and some unsavory characters in Agatha Christie's "The Unexpected Guest," now playing at Live Theatre Workshop, 5317 E. Speedway. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays, through Nov. 8. $15-$18. 327-4242.
• Tony Kushner's harrowing epic, "Angels in America," gets a staging by Studio Connections. This is Part 1 of the play about the AIDS epidemic in the '80s — and oh so much more. Mature themes; important topic. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays, through Nov. 8, at 9071 E. Old Spanish Trail. $18. 731-1559.
• Martinis, manners and marvelous moments make up Winding Road Theatre Ensemble's inaugural presentation, "Dorothy Parker's Last Call." Lesley Abrams wrote and stars in this one-woman show about the great wit and star member of the Algonquin Roundtable. Final performances are 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday at the Cabaret Theatre, Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Tickets are $15. 749-3800.
• Orson Welles scared the livin' daylights out of the country with his 1938 radio broadcast of H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds" — he made it sound like it was now and really happening. Top Hat Theatre hopes to do the same. It performs the thriller at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at 3110 E. Fort Lowell Road. $16. 326-6800.
• Feeling grown up and a bit naughty? Then Cirque Du Sin's "Tricks and Treats" cabaret show may be just your style. The 21 and over show is at 8 p.m. Saturday at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St. Tickets are $8-$12, available at www.ticketweb.com. 622-8848.
• Mark St. Germain's "The God Committee" gets an airing by Waypoint Theatre Company. It's about a group of doctors who try to determine who will live and who will die when a heart becomes available for one of three candidates. It opens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, and performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Fridays; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays; and 2 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 15 at Atria Bell Court Gardens' Academy Hall Theater, 6653 E. Carondelet Drive. $18; brown papertickets.com or 616-8584.
For the young at art . . .
• You've just this weekend to catch the final performances of The Gaslight Theatre's spoof, "Cronan the Barbarian" — it's at 6:30 and 9 p.m. today and Saturday.
Then, on Thursday, the holidays arrive at Gaslight with "On the Road to the North Pole, or, The Snow Must Go On!" Those shows are packed in over the holidays, so call for times. It runs through Jan. 2. The Gaslight Theatre is at 7010 E. Broadway. Tickets are $17.95 — $7.95 for children 12 and under. 886-9428.
• Top Hat Theatre Club winds up its kids show, "Galaxy Masters: The Saga of the Space Biscuit Drive," at 1 p.m. Sunday at 3110 E. Fort Lowell Road. $5. 326-6800.
• There's not much time left to get spooked at Valley of the Moon with its "13 Nights of Halloween." Be afraid, be very. . . . Oh, OK, it's not that scary, but lots of fun. The final performances can be seen between 6:30 and9 p.m. today. Valley of the Moon is at 2544 E. Allen Road. $7. 323-1331.
• Music, fantasy and giving grown-ups obsessed about order a what-for. That's what Yvonne Adrian's "Flyboy" is all about. It's being staged by Sahuarita High School drama department 7 p.m. Thursday through Nov. 7 at the Sahuarita District auditorium, 350 W. Sahuarita Road in Sahuarita. $5; $4 for students, seniors and district staff. 625-3502, Ext. 1555.
Elsewhere in The Arts . . .
• Rogue Theatre stages "A Delicate Balance" (Page C1).
• The Now Theatre takes on Neil LaBute's "Some Girl(s)" (Page C1).
• "See How They Run" at Pima Community College (Page C6).
• Beowulf Alley Theatre's production of "Rabbit Hole" (Page C1).
•Review: Arizona Theatre Company's production of "George Is Dead" (Page C6).
