“One Night Stand” Takes the Stage
By Shayne Benowitz
Twenty-four hours… The clock was ticking at The Studios of Key West as five teams of writers, artists, directors and actors worked around the clock to produce five ten-minute plays. For inspiration? “Reginald, they told me you were dead!” was the first line each writer had to use, and “This isn’t what I had in mind” concluded each playscript. A bag of Atocha gold coins served as the common prop for each play.
With these three elements, a quintet of wildly different plays went up at 8:00 Saturday night at the historic Armory. First, Reginald was a skydiving con-man on a plane that, to his chagrin, boarded a pregnant ex-lover who he had sent news to that he was dead. A film noir 1920’s detective emoted his inner monologue while two blonde sirens competed for his affection, concluding with a lovely jazz solo. Four stock actors searched for their play in an homage to all things theatrical, Terrence McNally included. A mysterious murder was under investigation by daft policemen. And finally, suicide, a scandalous affair, zombies, and anchovy cookies dazzled on the grounds of a trailer park.
Truly a celebration of the artistic collaboration that is theater, this was “One Night Stand’s” second annual production, which played to a sold out standing-room-only audience. Coordinated by The Studios of Key West’s Elena Devers, the shows went up without a hitch. Making the process run even smoother, generous local corporate sponsors and dozens of volunteers aided in everything from providing participants with meals to furnishing supplies to create the sets.
The Studios of Key West plays an integral role in Key West’s cultural arts scene with various workshops and classes in visual and literary arts. Housed in the historic Armory building, there is ample exhibition and studio space for local artists to display and hone their craft. They also play host to visiting artists-in-residence. For more information on all that The Studios of Key West has to offer, visit www.tskw.org.
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Shayne Benowitz is a Fury crewmember and freelance writer who is working on her debut novel. Shayne can be reached at [email protected].
