Katherine Repasky | assistant editor

For Malcolm Jenkins, a sophomore music technology and composition for media major, writing a play overnight was just the challenge he was looking for.

“I had an idea within an hour that night,” Jenkins said. “I started writing around 9 p.m. and finished by 7 a.m.”

Jenkins’ original play, titled “The Double,” followed two friends working at Kennywood, who were begrudgingly assigned a double shift during a medieval Fright Night. Jenkins built his plot around his randomly assigned prompts: Kennywood as a setting and a horse-head stick as a prop.

Audiences were welcomed to Duquesne’s Genesius Theater for the first time this semester on Sept. 7 to watch Jenkins’ play, along with three others, during the annual A Play in a Day event.

The event challenges students to collaboratively create, rehearse and perform student- written plays within a 24-hour period.

This year, the process began at 8 p.m. on Sept. 6 with all writers, directors, managers and performers gathering to select their casts. From there, each group was randomly assigned a setting and a prop, which would be required to be written into the foundations of their plays.

Each writer then spent the entire night in Genesius Theater writing and revising scripts for their assigned group of six actors. The cast and crew returned in the morning to begin memorizing lines and blocking stage directions.

The time constraints often forced the actors and directors to make adjustments to plots.

“The writers go back home and they sleep so sometimes the stuff doesn’t work and we change it on the spot, which is never too drastic,” sophomore actor and athletic training major Abbie Burke said.

The event allows for all students to take creative liberty over their performance. This collectively creative nature is one of the elements that makes the event stand out against traditional theater productions.

Brianna Movharko, senior nursing student and Play in a Day head producer, said the creative aspect is refreshing for all students.

“This was my fun thing; this is my escape from being in school with all the scary science,” Movharko said.

Movharko first participated in Play in a Day during her freshman year. She said the experience got her in both the Genesius Theater building and the theater community at Duquesne for the first time — notably as a non-theater major.

“My favorite part is that it’s so welcoming and the best way for anyone to try something new, whether that be acting or lights or stage managing,” she said.

Senior psychology student Jordan Steinmiller, who is also president of the Pep Band, stepped out of her usual role with music and worked as a director for this year’s event.

She made sure to help new performers to feel comfortable in the space.

“During auditions you ask the actors what they are comfortable and not comfortable with, which helps shape the characters,” Steinmiller said.

For other participants with experience in Duquesne’s theater arts, Play in the Day acted as an opportunity for them to get a new perspective within the community.

Kaitlyn Marscoverta, a junior in the physicians assistant program, has worked on past productions as a stage manager.

She took the day to gain experience in the technical crew booth, focusing on sound and lighting.

“It’s a less stressful time to learn it. It’s just one day, and everyone is just here for fun,” Marscoverta said. “I also now have a new found empathy for [the technical crew] when I ask them to do five things at once.”

Though many participants noted how fun and welcoming the community is, many also noted some challenges, such as memorizing full 20-minute scripts in just a few, short hours.
 

Amelia Collins, a sophomore in the speech pathology program and Red Masquers member, performed in “What Happened to Maggie Sanderson” written that night by Gavin B. Hart.

The story follows a group of high school students, who try to discover what happened to their missing friend through the help of a ouija board.

Though Hart’s original play had the longest script of the event, Collins said that she felt supported throughout the entire process.

“We’ve done full casts speed lines through. It’s so nice that our director takes the time since it’s really the foundation,” Collins said. “Once you know the lines you can really have fun and enjoy.”

Once the four plays reached the stage that evening, the cast and crew’s day of hard work was on full display.

Audience members could be heard laughing and clapping throughout the theater as each group brought its unique stories to life.

Riley Kinter, a sophomore pharmacy major who came to watch her roommate perform, spoke on how the creative format was part of what made the event so entertaining and allowed for each actor to truly shine through.

“I thought everyone was super funny, and I loved seeing my friends step into random roles that were pretty much picked out of a hat,” Kinter said.

Audience member Grace Toth agreed that seeing the finished performances and knowing it was completed in one day made the event all the more impressive.

“I think the concept is super cool, and it’s shocking how good it is after one day of practice,” Toth said.

Katherine Repasky can be reached at repaskyk@duq.edu