RMT's Around-the-Clock

Rogue Machine Theatre's Around-the-Clock is a fun project in which 7 writers are given certain prompts and restrictions, and they have 24 hours to write their play, meet with the directors, prepare the actors, and put on the show in front of a live audience!

All plays were about 10 minutes each, they were all named The End of the World. Each play had three actors (two female, one male), and they were required to:

• Use the same set
• Take off a vest
• Put on an apron
• Nod at the microwave
• Use one of the cleaning supplies (brooms)
• Use the following line of dialogue, "This is hell!" "This is not hell! Hell is ..."

The result? We watched 7 distinct plays, including:

• A rising star and a has-been who have won an "End of the World" competition for their bodacious butt
• A kinky lesbian who wants to spice up her sex life and seduces her partner's brother in order to cause some drama
• A parent-teacher conference over a six-year-old boy who masturbated in front of a classmate
• A woman who falls in love with a zombie after the zombie apocalypse and dumps her boyfriend, who has a hero complex

Around-the-Clock reminded me of art school and the different writing prompts I would get in my glasses. I loved how those prompts yielded completely different pieces of work, and how they challenged me and me think about scenarios I would've never imagined otherwise, taking me outside my own little box.

It was FUN.