I caught up with
the very busy actor/director Randy Hunt, co-organizer of “The Red Eye: a
24-Hour New Play Festival” (coming to Schoolhouse Arts Center in Standish this
fall) to get the scoop on this new event.
Where are you
from? What brought you to the southern Maine theater scene?
I’m originally
from the Bangor, Maine area; I moved to the Portland area in 2016 when my
employer of 20 years relocated me to their South Portland Corporate office.
While I was initially nervous about this move, it ended up being a great
opportunity to meet new people, do new things, and to live, work, and play in a
new community. I’m thrilled to have found a thriving theatre scene here --
there is no lack of theatre opportunities in the Greater Portland area. In 2011
I auditioned for “One Flew Over the
Cuckoo’s Nest” with Ten Bucks Theatre in Bangor and this became
the start of a very busy theatre “career” for me. Since then, I’ve acted in 17
fully-staged productions and directed two shows.
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| Schoolhouse Arts Center |
Where did the
24-hour festival idea come from?
I joined Ten
Bucks Theatre (TBT) in Bangor in 2012, the year they held their Inaugural
24-hour New Play Festival. It became wildly successful, drawing around 30 to 45
actors, writers and directors each year and it’s been an annual event ever
since. I co-organized their 2013-2017 festivals and was also able to
participate as a writer, director and actor over the years. I love everything
about it: meeting new people, working with old friends, trying something new
(acting, directing, writing, tech, etc.), the camaraderie, the creative
process, the awesome feeling you get as a writer when you see your play come to
life in less than a day, fun and laughter, food, watching the plays that the
other participants are in and knowing that they are all feeling that same
adrenaline rush as you, and so much more. It is my favorite event of the year!
How did you and
the Red Eye end up at Schoolhouse?
In April I was
cast as the lead (Elwood P. Dowd) in “Harvey”
at Schoolhouse -- it was my first time working with them. I met so many
wonderful people and I really enjoyed the experience. I was thinking one day
that perhaps Schoolhouse would be an ideal location to have a 24-hour play
festival of their own, especially since Schoolhouse was originally founded to
showcase the works of local playwrights.
So...I pitched
the idea, and it was wonderfully received. They said “Great, we’ll get it on
the calendar for next year.” And I said, “Next year? We have plenty of time to
make it happen this year!” Schoolhouse board member Francine Morin
volunteered to co-organize the event and she asked if we could call it “The Red
Eye” because it fit her publicity concept, and so it was named.
Now here I am,
helping to organize and run SAC’s inaugural event The Redeye: A 24 New Play Festival happening this October! There
is something in the air that makes autumn just right for a festival like this.
Since the event came together so quickly, October 19 and 20 was the only
possible weekend. We feel confident that we’ll have enough participants and
enthusiasm to make this an annual event at Schoolhouse Arts Center! I am so
thrilled to be co-organizing this event with Francine. It’s always fun to
collaborate on a project with someone who understands the vision of the project
and who wants to work towards the same goal. We are also both very organized
people, which makes for a streamlined workflow. It takes a team of people to
make sure an event like this goes smoothly, so other Schoolhouse folks will be
helping out as well, thankfully.
Who can
participate in the Red Eye? And how does the 24-hour part work? Do you stay up
all night?
The festival runs
from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Friday and 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday. The
festival runs approximately 24 hours in total, but it is not an overnight
event.
The best part
about a 24-hour festival is that it gives anyone a chance to try something that
they’ve never done, like writing a play, acting, or directing – this event is
the perfect place to try something new. It also isn’t just for newcomers
-- it’s also a fun opportunity for seasoned theatre veterans, too, giving
everyone chance to get together and collaborate as a team and work towards a
common goal of creating a ten minute (-ish) play that didn’t exist 24 hours
before. It may sound a little intimidating at first but creating a product from
start to finish in one day as a team is exhilarating and very satisfying.
This event is for anyone 12 to 112!
Anyone who is
interested can get started by signing up for the event at
tinyurl.com/SchoolhouseRedEye2018 and indicating your preference (to be
writer, actor, director, etc.). We’ll assign roles the week before the
festival. Writers are asked to not write anything ahead of time -- this
is very important!
On Friday night
we’ll meet at Schoolhouse Arts Center, play some icebreaker games, and randomly
assign teams consisting of a writer, a director, and 2-4 actors. Through
improvisation games the writers will discover their actors’ personalities and
capabilities which will shape their script ideas. Writers, actors, and
directors will then meet for one-hour workshops with their mentors: Michael
Tooher for the writers, Zachariah Stearn for the actors, and Jerry Walker for
the directors. The writing workshop is particularly helpful for those who
haven’t done much (or any) play writing but now must create one overnight!
After the workshops, everyone, including the writers, will head home. While the
actors and directors get their rest, the writers will fire up their coffee pots
and work late into the night to meet their 8:00AM deadline. On Saturday morning
we begin the work of bringing them to life. We then share one last meal
together on Saturday night before inviting the public to a 7:00PM showcase
performance. That’s pretty much how it goes. Remember to sign up! tinyurl.com/SchoolhouseRedEye2018
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