24-Hour Fest Volume V
Press Release
Nothing Without a Company Announces
CHICAGO, Aug 16, 2017 - Chicago non-profit theatre company Nothing Without a Company is proud to announce 24-Hour Fest Volume V, a festival of six new ten-minute plays developed within 24 hours. The festival is Saturday, September 2nd, at 7:30pm, at Berger Park Cultural Center, 6205 N. Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL. Tickets are $15 online and "pay-what-you-can" at the door. Reserve your ticket online for guaranteed admission at 24hf.bpt.me.
On the evening of Friday, September 1st, six playwrights, six directors, and eighteen actors are randomly sorted into teams of five. Each team is composed of one writer, one director, and three actors, and assigned one location within Berger Park Cultural Center. The teams devise a new ten-minute play to premiere 24 hours later. Four of the six plays will be performed in the exterior spaces of Berger Park, and two within the South Mansion. The audience will travel throughout Berger Park and experience each performance consecutively.
This year marks Nothing Without a Company’s fifth 24-Hour Fest. The festival takes place at a different venue each year, and previous 24-Hour Fests have been at Mary’s Attic, TimberLanes Bowling Alley, The Lesbian Lounge, and The FireHaus. This year, Nothing Without a Company chose Berger Park Cultural Center, which became the Company’s artistic home in August 2016. In the early years of the organization, many shows took place in different parks throughout the city as per their mission of “Planting Theatre Around Chicago.” The Company is going back to its roots by doing another series of shows in a park, and Berger Park as their artistic home became the obvious choice. Berger Park is located in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago, overlooks beautiful Lake Michigan, and has become a neighborhood icon. This quaint historic landmark has two mansions featuring hardwood floors, original woodwork, and antique light fixtures among other charming details. Nothing Without a Company’s Fall 2016 production, The Kid Thing, was performed in the South Mansion. The Company also hosts weekly free yoga classes here every Saturday morning. (For more information on the yoga classes and other Nothing Without a Company’s Berger Park Happenings, visit NothingWithoutaCompany.org/Berger
The six playwrights for the fest are Dominick Alesia, Janey Bell*, Joseph Giovannetti, Hannah Ii-Epstein*, Olivia Lilley and Josh Mattingly*. Co-Artistic Director Anna Rose Ii-Epstein and Company Ensemble Member Edgar Miguel Sanchez have signed on to direct two plays in the festival. Actors include Ted Dayton, Val Gerard Garcia Jr., Romeo Green*, Gretchen Rachel Hammond, Heather Jencks, Karen Keme, Alexia Jaseme Meneely, Drew Michele, Jamie Newell, Nic Park, Sharon Pasia, Jack Schultz, Ivori Skye, Derek Rienzi Van Tassel, Viet Vy, and Phranque Wright.
*Denotes Company Ensemble Member