For Towson theatre students, the chance to write, direct, produce and perform a play is the highlight of their college education. Beginning Friday, around 30 students had that opportunity in “PlaySlam,” but there was one catch. All the tasks had to be completed within 24 hours. “It’s an opportunity for [freshmen] to do a show within the first three weeks of college,” David Glover, the producer of this event, said. “It’s also a chance for a jolly good weekend.” But the event didn’t just involve first time students. Upperclassmen, ranging from sophomores to graduate students, write and direct the plays to experiment with ideas. When participants of “PlaySlam” gathered Friday night, the sleep depriving madness began. After engaging the students in some team bonding experiences, Glover assigned the actors to a writer and director. Each group was given a character, a location, a CD of music, and a quote. These four elements were encouraged to be included in the final production. The writers created the pieces, then the directors and actors came in again Saturday morning to block movements and rehearse their lines. That evening, each of the six groups performed 15 to 20 minute long plays. The pre-show featured Lane Pianta, who used his guitar to create a variety of sounds while Mariana Osario performed movement pieces wearing a mask. Pianta described it as “an intersection of music and stage action.” “America’s Freakheart,” by Bobby Libby, was about an uneducated man who rescues a deformed baby from a portable toilet. The man raises the child and profits from her as a sideshow. The girl goes on to star in a reality show and becomes a celebrity. Later, God visits the adopted father and tells him that he has raised the anti-Christ. Libby (who was the only participant to both write and direct his play) called the Slam “probably the most educational weekend of my life, in terms of theatre.” He emphasized that, while stressful, the time limitations were a driving force. “There’s no real time for doubt or any prospect of giving up,” he said. “You just have to push through and do it. At 8 o’clock, you must have a show to present, so you just have to put up the best possible show you can.” “Plankton – A Whale of a Tail” was a musical written by Ryan Haase and Alex Kliner. The story centers on a plankton that develops a crush on a cowgirl that was just swallowed by a whale. The plankton becomes intrigued by land life and wants to dine at Dairy Queen. Haase believes the idea ends here. “It was fun, but trite and stupid,” he said. “Sweet Pie,” set in a laundromat, featured two women with dark secrets. One has a human head in her duffel bag and the other has loads of granola bars. In “Choices,” a mother and daughter are re-united at a morgue and argue over an assortment of topics, like the mother being responsible for the daughter’s divorce. “Picking up a chick in an artistic and whimsical way” was how writer Becca Wyrick described her material, “Theories.” This act involved a deep level of thinking in which the characters mirrored each other’s movements. Director Siobhan O’Loughlin said her three actors were very accepting. “They didn’t bat an eye,” she said. The Ruth Marder Studio Theatre filled its 125-person capacity and the show ended with a standing ovation. “It taught me a lot about having faith in myself and having faith in the actors in any future writing or directing I will probably do,” Libby said, “but I will never direct my own piece in a 24-hour situation again, for my sanity’s sake.”

Last fall, the 2006 Graduate Theatre Program sent out a proposal to the 365 International Festival to participate in Suzan-Lori Parks’ play “365 Days and Plays.” The proposal was accepted by the festival and Towson University’s Graduate Theatre Program will be performing “365 Days and Plays” on Saturday Oct. 27 at 8 p.m. at The Tractor Building at Clipper Mill in Baltimore.

Parks created a play a day in 2002, signifying the title “365 Days and Plays.”