Play in a day tests stage stalwarts

Lynette Forday (left) and Oliver Driver

What's in a name? Quite a lot when it comes to Urbis 24-hours Deadline Theatre, which returns to Auckland on Sunday for the second time.

Had last year's fledgling event been called "playwrights' workshop", chances are 10 or so people would have turned up and it truly would have been a one-night-only experience.

But producer/playwright Mike Hudson was canny. He devised a title which hinted that something different was afoot.

Hence 24-hours Deadline Theatre was born, and a sellout audience of 300 witnessed leading theatre stalwarts pushed to the limits of their creativity.

It was successful enough to be repeated this year with a bigger budget and at a larger venue.

At 7.30pm on Saturday, eight playwrights are given mystery props (last year they were a prosthetic leg and airline seats) and an envelope containing photographs of three actors. They have 12 hours to write a 10-minute play.

At 7.30am the next day, the playwrights pass their scripts to eight professional theatre directors and their three-strong teams of actors, who have the day to learn lines and rehearse.

Twelve hours later eight new plays are revealed to the audience.

This year's bill includes writers James Griffin and Fiona Samuel; directors Oliver Driver, Margaret-Mary Hollins, Heath Jones, Jennifer Ward Lealand and Michael Hurst; and actors Kip Chapman, Alison Quigan, John Sumner, Kate Parker and Lynette Forday.

Forday, best known for her roles in Shortland Street and The Strip, is new to deadline theatre.

"I've been ensconced in motherhood for 16 months so this is a chance to push myself workwise and take some risks."

"You have to have confidence in your ability as a performer to do the job. If you get too scared and nervous, you shoot yourself in the foot before you've even started."

Murray Keane works most often behind the camera as a director but says acting for theatre is his first love. He appeared in Shortland Street around 10 years ago.

Last year's deadline theatre was his first acting work since then. He played an embryo.

"My wife [Fiona Samuel] is one of the writers this year and I've told her if I am one of her actors she is not to make me an embryo. Once on stage as an embryo in a womb is enough.

"Seriously, it was great to get back on stage, to see what the world of the actor is like and not to have to take responsibility for the final product. It was a big adrenalin rush trying to remember lines and not bump into the furniture ... "

Oliver Driver also returns for this show.

"I think the main thing is to have fun, be enthusiastic about the concept and not be worried about what you look like," he says.

Inspired by similar international events and the 48-hour film festival, Hudson wanted to provide a forum for established and novice writers to get new work on stage, as well as a unique experience for audiences.

"Very skilled writers were not getting their work out. There is no magic cure for that because that's the nature of the industry to a certain extent. I could have sat back and accepted that but I was not prepared to."

Hudson is most excited about the calibre of the judges: Auckland Theatre Company's Colin McColl, Silo Theatre's Shane Bosher, and Sam Scott, founder of the Massive Theatre Company.

The judges do not know who wrote which play until they name one the winner. The audience gets a say too, with an audience's choice award.

* What: Urbis 24-Hours Deadline Theatre

* Where and when: Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber, Sunday March 19, 7.30pm