If you build it... in 24 hours! Part 1

wThis past weekend, I had the great privilege and pleasure of participating in the Capital District/Berkshire 24-Hour Theatre Festival. A co-production of WAM Theatre, The Mop & Bucket Company, and the Arts Center of the Capital Region, the project brought together 5 directors, 5 playwrights, 21 actors and a cadre of technical and support staff to produce a completely original evening of theatre in 24 hours.

As a producer and playwright, the event was one of the highlights of my recent life, and it reminded me (and taught me) innumerable things about creativity and collaboration and group process in general. Here are the first three of many of the insights I have come away with. More next time:

• Be Prepared: As an improviser, we sometimes forget - or are deliberately blind to - the work that goes into creating the environment in which we do our work. It is fine to talk about being spontaneous and in-the-moment, AND often someone (perhaps ourselves, perhaps other) has done a lot of work to create the "stage" for us to perform on. In this case, our partner, Kristen VanGinhoven, led the charge to think about all the details that would support or hinder the artists on the day of the event. She made sure we provided food, she worked tirelessly on invitations and disseminating instructions. She got waivers from the actor's union; she coordinated, crafted and sent press releases. She asked a million questions, toured the perfect space, provided by the Arts Center, arranged for props and costumes to be brought, and provided rides and beds to those traveling to be with us and assembled a high-level teams to do the work. As magical as the event itself was, the tedious groundwork she set was what enabled that magic. As improv director, Laura Livingston, says, she built the jungle gym so we could swing on it.
• Attitude matters: The extent to which everyone showed themselves to be flexible, calm, and enthusiastic was astonishing. But even within that general love-fest there were folks who were more or less effective, and more or less enjoyable to play with. The folks who engaged with optimism and positivity are the ones I will want to work with again. The gave me encouragement and confidence and allowed me to do my best work and help them the most. The saddest negative examples, on the other hand, were the ones in which a person was adding incredible value to the process, but did so with a performance of reluctance or mistrust. In such situations, I was aware of how much they were costing themselves. Rather than walking away from them feeling grateful and impressed, their partners left feeling cowed or awkward. What a waste of great contributions.
• Professionals rock. Malcolm Gladwell has spoken about the 10,000 hour rule - that in order to really be an expert, one must spend at least that much time developing a skill. During this project I had the opportunity to work with REAL directors and REAL stage managers and their skills astonished me. Their awarenesses and instincts and processes were so well-honed. They saw things that lay people would not have seen. They employed habits that lay people do not possess. The 24 hours of work they engaged in and shepherded us through really added up to 10,024 hours as they brought their significant experience to bear.

More lessons from this great experience next time.