Four plays in 24 hours:  let’s face it, that really is no mean feat. Knackered and under pressure, I fully appreciate that anything produced in that time won’t be Shakespeare; what it will be is a struggle against time and sleep. In light of this, I’ll take a whack at giving a commentary of each play delivered in the hour, but I want to say from the start that, regardless of any criticism made, I’m still very impressed by all parties involved, in The 24 Hour Plays at the ADC.

Firstly, the theme for the night’s entertainment was ‘Strangers’. I thought it was a great brief and was keen to see how each group would tackle it:

‘Border Disorder’

A border of books split the stage with one side labelled ‘Somewhere’ and the other ‘Nowhere’. A girl sweeping the floor in ‘Nowhere’ looks forlornly at the boy across the border, reading the paper to her from his chair. I see the premise. There is an air of Cold War Berlin about it, enhanced by a later statement about “the political atmosphere of Europe” and lines like “it’s called democracy, Hugh” to which Hugh replied “what’s that?” The play’s futuristic, dystopian foundations were evident and I understand the ‘disorder’ part as they clearly intended to make it slightly nonsensical and absurd. But I think the problems were a very conflicted plot with inconsistent delivery. For one thing the word ‘stranger’ was just dropped in while reading the news articles, so that felt a bit feeble, and then there was definite confusion at times as to what was being said. Many lines were lost to mumbling with others being randomly vamped up for comedy. Effectively, some more clarity was needed in both plot and tone which might have been found if they had gone for a simpler concept, given the time limit.

‘The Third Man’ 

Two opposing characters are both travelling on a rocket to live out the rest of their lives on Mars. The classic humour of two clearly incompatible people having to stick together did carry: one of the girls, a geologist, played the keen and squeaky-clean-type well, and likewise the other, as the pilot adopted an effective arrogant and uninterested swagger. Then an unexpected third person interrupts proceedings, with (his apparent catchphrase): “I am the mechanic.” As it transpires, this was some kind of alien-man who’d been trapped on Earth for 5,000 years waiting for his moment to go back. While the character acting was solid (especially in his ability to eat bananas while delivering his lines – that’s actually really hard) the whole thing did all descend into farce in a way that made me feel like it was all trying too hard for laughs. The ‘Stranger’ brief was tackled pretty well and was amusing, but again a little overreaching, and they could have tried something, if you’ll pardon the pun (you won’t), a little closer to home.

‘Hello Stranger’

Immediately there was great character development from the lead, who sensitively and endearingly portrays a girl shaken after a man has just jumped off the roof of the airport. As she tries to get in touch with her brother to come pick her up, a variety of strange people come and interrupt her. Each ‘stranger’ brought something new and interesting and I particularly liked the last, a young girl played sweetly by our compère for the night, as here I think the chemistry between the two characters was particularly engaging. There were still some moments of awkward comedy but I think many were incorporated more subtly here than in others. As a script it definitely did drag on and could have been more effective if it was a lot shorter. Having said that, I thought it was probably my favourite take on the brief and, overall, nicely delivered. 

‘Zoouija Board’

We are plunged straight into a clearly farcical therapy session, where two patients join forces to help exorcise a haunting ghost. We learn that one of them, who thinks he is a cat, has just killed his own actual cat, Rufus, and the other, by some coincidence, is also an animal murderer: this time a penguin from the zoo. We then realise the figure who’s been pacing the room is in fact the ghost of said murdered penguin, and what ensues is an increasingly absurdist scene whereby the cat-patient communicates with the ghost, culminating in a kind of waltz and punctuated by what can only be described as an opera of animal noises. Lost? Fair enough. But what cracking animal noises they were. Reading that, I can appreciate how it might be difficult to fathom, but I can tell you now that that finale really was comedy gold.

And as each cast came out, the loudness of the applause decided the winners of the night’s excitement, which ultimately were: Zoouija board! Worthy winners and many congratulations.

Overall, the production was perhaps more ‘strange’ than ‘stranger’. I think people should have been less concerned about trying to make theirs funny and more about clarity of plot. Cheap laughs occasionally ruined what could have otherwise been a really interesting idea and so came across more as extended sketches rather than short plays, which would inevitably be difficult to pull off. But all things considered, it was good fun and, from everyone I’ve heard from, great to be involved in. So a special mention goes to Joyce Lee for organising it all, and I look forward to seeing the next one!