One Night Stand Four

August 9, 2010







One Night Stand Four

It is an amazing experience to witness the creative process as it unfolds. As the photographer for two of the 5 plays in The Studios of Key West’s “One Night Stand Four”, I had the unique opportunity to watch as the directors and actors worked through the final phase of their productions and then carried it forward to the actual final dress rehearsal and finally to the actual performance later that same night.

Mike Mongo

Marky

During the performance itself, I choose to sit back and just watch and not to photograph, so all these photos are from either the practice runs or the final rehearsal and thus do not have the benefit of the full sets or costumes which really do enhance the production.

Erin



One of the more interesting aspects to watch was how the different writers and directors incorporated the required common line and prop. The line that each play had to feature was from the old classic film, “Cool Hand Luke”, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” The prop that each group needed to include was a EPT home pregnancy test, which made one poor TSKW intern have to go out and purchase 5 pregnancy tests.



The full rehearsal was the first time that I was able to see the full plays all run through at the same time. As you might imagine some groups were much more organized and together than others. There was a tension in the air as the teams struggled to get it together under the pressure of time. What seems from the outside as a fun, low-key experience can be at times fraught with nerves as the teams rush to beat the clock and to come across as professional as others.





The plays were fantastic overall, in spite of forgotten lines and the occasional missteps, I knew from experience that each mistake simply magnifies the enjoyment for the audience. This is live gonzo theatre and flubs are part of the action and watching the actors improvise when things go wrong is one of the joys of the process.



Shawna

The rehearsals were a mixed bag as some groups were frantic while others seemed ready to go for the first of two performances only minutes from the end of the rehearsal. Kathy & I joined the sold out standing room only crowd to watch the culmination of 24 hours of hard work by everyone involved.



Peyton

The show was an unqualified success, performers who moments earlier could recall their lines, delivered them with ease or else improvised flawlessly. The staging, sets and costumes completed the mix and one just walking in to see the show would have a tough time imagining that none of it existed 24 hours earlier.





In past years, the plays have been judged and awarded, for best in show, a process that was dropped this year. That decision was a good one as it would be unfair to single out one of the groups as they all delivered a wonderful night of theatre. Kudos to Elena Devers, Mark Hedden, all the staff, board & volunteers at TSKW and all of the people who gathered together in creating one of Key West’s coolest annual events. We are looking forward to next year already.



Liz

Mook J