Update 2008-06-06 - Buying tickets

I really should have got this info up sooner, for which I apologize.

Leeds

June 12th 7.30pm

VENUE:
Stage One @ University Of Leeds
Leeds University Campus
Leeds
LS2 9JT

0113 3438730
http://www.leedstickets.com/stage £6.50 (£4.50 concessions)

Brooklyn

June 13-14 8.00pm

VENUE:
New Workshop Theater
Brookyln College Campus
2900 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY (Flatbush Avenue stop on the 2 train)

(718) 951-5000 x 2768
or visit the Dept. of Theater Web page at http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/theater

Tickets: $7

Update 2008-06-02 - Results

The results are in. Apollyon's "Reverse Philosopher" will be performed in Harrogate, and Uberbanana's "Even in Death" will be performed in Brooklyn. Congratulations to both of them!

Regular followers of the quest will surely notice that we are, unfortunately, getting fewer of our plays selected for performance in recent years. I don't think this is due to any huge drop in the quality of our output; the fact is that the festival is reaching a larger and larger audience outside of E2, and so we face much greater competition. The first time around, our competition was a couple of dozen people in the Harrogate Theatre Writer's group; nowadays, the competition is global.

So, all the more reason to be pleased for Apollyon and Uberbanana, and I hope that everyone else will not be put off trying again next year. Thanks so much to everyone who participated!

It's theatre quest time!

Write a sixty second play by 25th April 4th May.too late! It's over. The best entries will be performed on stage, in front of a paying audience.

Details

Each year, the Gone in Sixty Seconds project requests submissions from writers anywhere and everywhere. Two venues, one in the USA, and one in the UK, each select 50 plays, and they are performed on stage, in front of a real audience, by a mixture of drama students and semi-professional actors. Every year, everything2 members submit their plays, and so far each year has seen a selection of everything2 submissions chosen to be performed.

This year, the American show will be performed at Brooklyn College on (updated!) June 13th and 14th, and the UK show will be at the University of Leeds on June the 12th.

Check out Apollyon's review of last year's UK show!.

The show will be recorded, and, in theory, the plays will be made available to view online. However, in previous years, this part of proceedings has been fraught with problems, so I am reluctant to make promises about it. I'm sure the organisers fully intend to put the videos of the plays online, but, please, don't be too disappointed if they don't, or if they do, but it takes MONTHS.

Rules

  • Plays must last no longer than 60 seconds.
  • All work must be totally original and the author's own work.
  • Avoid complicated staging.
  • Submit your entry to the Gone in Sixty Seconds 2008 - Theatre Quest Entries node.
  • Each author may submit multiple plays.
  • Deadline 4th May.
  • Include your name, location, and the play's title.

That last rule is because when each play is performed, they like to display e.g. "The Unlikely Landscape Gardener, by Joe Bryant (London)" behind it on a screen. If you don't want to publish your name and location here on E2, either make up a pseudonym, or send me the information by /msg, and I'll pass it on to the theatres if your work is chosen.

Guidelines

  • Most obviously - check out the previous four quests and look at the ones that got chosen to be performed.
  • Don't write anything that depends on elaborate costumes, sets, or props - there's little time for these things when you are performing 50 sketches in succession. A fireman's hat is okay; a Big Bird costume is not. Think practicality.
  • Recall that the audience haven't read the script and so don't know that the guy up there is supposed to be e.g. Hillary Clinton unless it's apparent from the dialogue. (Sounds obvious, but it escapes people surprisingly often.)
  • Read the thing aloud with a stopwatch to make sure it really fits into sixty seconds. They aren't kidding about the time limit.
  • If you have doubts - ask me! I used to perform these things, I like to think I've got a good idea of what will fly and what won't.

I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with this year! We have some ground to recover; E2's showing last year wasn't as strong as in previous years (measured by plays chosen, anyway). I have faith in you all!

Many thanks to Oolong who is this year's official quest sponsor. He will be awarding 10XP blessings for each submission! Also, check out his own subsidiary quest writeup below for your chance to have your play performed by weird plasticine monsters!