The atmosphere at Point Loma Playhouse was a mix of nerves, anticipation and exhilaration as local actors, writers and directors trickled through the open front door on Talbot Street at 7 p.m. Nov. 3. A long, laborious and thrilling 24 hours were about to begin.
The evening started the 11th annual 24 Experiment, in which 24 writers, 24 actors and six playwrights had 24 hours to create, rehearse and perform six short plays.
The participants, who paid a $24 fee, gathered under the leadership of host Robert Nickel, with the actors sitting in the middle, awaiting the moment to cast an impression on the writers and directors.
The actors introduced themselves, stating their offstage occupation and what type of roles they would be comfortable playing. The directors scribbled notes.
“My name is Kerry. I am a real person. I love real stuff,” actress Kerry Menchin said. “This is my daughter. I didn’t have a babysitter tonight.”
“I can play a guy,” Menchin added. “I have done it before.”
Actor Will Ellis said “I am pretty discerning, and I think that helps me be nice.”
After each two-minute introduction, the actors were dismissed and told to arrive back at the playhouse at 8:30 the next morning. For them, the night proceeded like a typical Friday.
For the writers though, it was go time. They rushed into groups of two to four. The most seasoned participants jumped in with those they had worked with in the past, while newer mingled and wandered, talking to possible team candidates.
“We are going to win,” writer Tony Mauriello said jokingly as he paired up with long-standing teammates. Mauriello and his co-writers won last year, and they quickly got to work, laptops out and coffees in hand.
This year, each play had to include something about actor Ryan Reynolds, plus a tennis racquet and the line “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.”
After drawing categories ranging from comedy to crime to science fiction, each group began the creative process, with team pitching ideas. Some stood, some sat, some lay on the floor.
“I have no idea who Ryan Reynolds is,” Gabriela Sosa, a local actress, writer and production professional, said with a worried look.
“That’s OK. No matter what the criteria is, we just have to make sure this is funny, because that is how we will win the audience,” Mauriello said. “Sci-fi can literally be anything. It is out of this world, so we don’t have to stick to the confines of four walls, as long as it is funny.”
Gunnar Ramstrum, a founding member of Point Loma Playhouse and a former host of 24 Experiment, shared a similar sentiment as he talked about how his team could best tackle the writing process.
“Let’s all brainstorm,” he said. “One person can write, everyone else pull out ideas. If someone else is talking, write your idea down. In the beginning, let’s just try to get our concept on paper.”
The writers were served dinner at midnight.
By the following morning, six plays had been created. Before the actors arrived, directors were given the chance to draft who they wanted in their play, based on prompts from the writers.
Head shots atop a mantel and notes from each actor’s introduction were all they had to work with.
By 8:30 a.m., casts and crews had been solidified and each play was ready for rehearsal. As the tired writers slipped home for some rest, the directors and cast got to work bringing their plays to life. A rotating list of stage times was posted on a wall as their guiding light.
For the next 10 hours leading to the 7 p.m. curtain call for a live audience, the actors and directors rushed throughout the playhouse. Outfit changes, technical run-throughs and memorization of lines consumed the time, with cast spilling onto the front porch and nearby sidewalks.
“I need to hear your voice. I need the audience to hear your voice,” director Erika Toraya said, kneeling on the side of the stage as actors rehearsed.
Across the playhouse, director Richard Gilman stood with his cast during a run-through on the porch.
Lunch was served at noon and a snack at 5 p.m.
Nickel said the 24 Experiment draws the best aspects of theater. In one hectic 24-hour period, actors, writers and directors have a chance to deeply collaborate and create something they can be uniquely proud of.
“The community for this really brings a high-energy, fun and positive experience,” Nickel said.
Nickel has a dynamic perspective after being part of the program both as an actor and host.
“I did this event initially as an actor as my first exposure to Point Loma Playhouse,” he said. “I decided after my first time [in 2019] that I loved it and that I would do this every year from then on. Well, it turns out the next year was COVID, so we didn’t have it. In 2022, the guy hosting was slammed with commitments, and I stepped up to produce the 10th annual 24 Experiment.”
At the end of the six performances Nov. 4, the audience voted on a winner.
Mauriello’s team, including Ramstrum, Sosa and David Sein, took first place for their comedic sci-fi fantasy, “You and Me.” The actors included Menchin, Evona Niewiadomska and Rey Hernandez, and Gilman directed.
For more information about Point Loma Playhouse and performances, visit pointlomaplayhouse.com.
