Working on InsomniaACTS

Last night I worked on a benefit for Portland Theatre Works. They are a not-for-profit organization dedicated exclusively to developing new work for the theatre. They strive to provide playwrights with the time, space, tools, and artistic support required to fully develop their plays and refine their craft.
Anyway, their project last night, InsomniACTS was really fun and really cool. Here's how it went. They had an evening of readings with a bunch of playwrights' works on Friday night, then the audience bid on stipulations for those playwrights next shows. The audience got to choose three props that all the playwrights had to use. They choose a fake blackbird, a giant ladle, and a gas mask. Then to make the playwrights job even more difficult the audience got to bid on the first and last line of each play. Then the playwrights worked all night long. Their shows were due at 6:30 in the morning. The actors, me included, showed up to work at 9:30 on Saturday. We auditioned, read through, blocked, and rehearsed which took us until about 4:00, and then that night we performed. All the work was totally worth it, though. Our audience had a really great time, the playwrights loved seeing their work spring to life so quickly, and we raised money for a great theatre venture.
I loved the play I worked on. If you can imagine anything so absurd, it was the only dramatic piece of the night (the rest were riotous comedies), and it was about, of all things, a sleeping giant. It was written by Ciji Guerin and directed by the lovely Eugenia Woods, a woman who has recently moved to Portland and seems to have brought all her wonderful ideas with her. This event was concieved completely by her.