TSKW’S One Night Stand

 

By C.S Gilbert

 

Hooray! The biennial madness continues! The Studios of Key West is doing One Night Stand again this year on Saturday, July 19, a post from Deputy Director Elena Devers announced. “One Night Stand is the fun and crazy theater project that brings together over 50 of the island’s most talented actors, writers, directors and artists and asks them to create four brand-new 10-minute plays complete with sets. . . in only 24 hours.”

 

 

What I received was a call for volunteer actors with too quick a turn-around for weekly publication — but acting is only part (sometimes I truly believe a smaller part) of the event. “Would you like to be a playwright, set designer/artist, or director?” Elena asks. If so “please email me to let me know. We’re also looking for lots of people to help behind the scenes, by serving as artist assistants, stage managers and costume and props people — so if you are willing to help in this capacity, please include that in the email.” Interested? Send an email to[email protected]with your name, current phone number and address and note what you’d like to do.

 

 

I started out as costume/props person, the only one, as I recall, that first year: Chased all over town and lost my favorite black turtle-neck, but with great assistance from Joyce Stahl, Waterfront Playhouse and the Red Barn costume collections, everybody had props and clothes on when the lights went up. That first year the common prop was the trademark blue bag that bottles of Crown Royale whiskey come in. That one was tough. We were forced to buy it. And drink it. Now we could more properly dispose of it at the TSKW bar. The second time I had the sense to ask for a costume/prop person for each play so I could coordinate and assist. That worked smoothly. I was rewarded by being cast in the two subsequent shows, and I’d love to act again but, if not, I’ll be working backstage, so as not to miss the fun.

 

 

Everyone involved gets together the evening before for a mandatory kick-off reception, to learn the common line and prop to be woven into each play and to get acquainted with your production team; playwrights then must get their scripts back to Elena by 6 a.m. and everyone reconvenes later that morning and works all day (don’t worry — there are lunch and dinner breaks).

 

 

If your favorite theater role is audience, however, so as not to miss the fun, I strongly recommend getting your tickets, which went on sale a week or so ago ($25/$20), now. No kidding. There are two performances, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.; last time both sold out. TSKW: 305-296-0458.

 

 

Also at TSKW, a reminder: the South Florida Symphony Orchestra’s superb Blue Door String Quartet will perform on Wednesday, July 16, reception at 7, concert at 7:30 p.m. On the program will be Hugo Wolf: Italian Serenade and Amy Beach: String Quartet in One Movement. Tickets are available at Keystix.com. The Blue Door looks to be the penultimate program at the Armory, with One Night Stand the final curtain. But Devers promises a full schedule of cultural events at host sites between August and the move into the wonderful new digs in (probably) November.

 

 

That’s it for now. Gotta fly!

 

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