Oak Park High School’s fourth annual 24-Hour Play was performed on Nov. 5, 2022, by the school’s International Thespian Society Troupe 6074. They performed the one-act play “The Layover”, written by Tracy Wells.

The play was intended to be entirely assembled in 24 hours, rather than being prepared for weeks like the Troupe’s usualperformances. With one act to finish in a 24-hour time period, the tasks of getting sets done, rehearsing lines, and fixing outfits became their main priority. 

Directors senior Charlotte Vogt and junior Abigail Leduc chose “The Layover” because it was produced this year. Despite the fact that everyone in the Troupe had done a play before, there came challenges with this limited time span. 

“They already know how to do space work,” said Vogt. ”But our biggest worry was playing without a script.” 

Space work refers to being able to use space and movement on stage. 

With time ticking by, the actors would do multiple rehearsals throughout the night before the play on Friday. The directors sat in the stands critiquing the performance in order to bring the best out of their actors and characters. Behind the scenes, costume 

design works on bringing the characters to life.

“We take whatever clothing items we have accumulated over the years that will fit the character that wears it,” said sophomore Madi Pelc, a member of the Costume Team.

Zara Farooqi, the Lead Costume Designer, enjoyed the pressure.  

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“The workload of a costume designer is a cycle of calm and chaotic,” she said. “We have moments to breathe throughout the production, but when we first are creating the costumes and having to have them ready for people to wear, it could be stressful with how little time we’re given.”

While set design created the props and background, tech was expected to troubleshoot mics, lights, and other devices two weeks before beginning production. Leduc recognized that there were difficulties along the way. 

“I’m afraid that the mics are going to have issues, but tech support helped get the kinks out,” said Leduc.

Props followed a similar process to costumes, finding anything from past shows to set the scene. 

“Usually we can find stuff that can fit what is needed from what is already in our inventory or change certain parts of a prop to fit what is needed,” said freshman Jackson Theyer. 

With the time limitation, many props are taken from past shows like Peter and the Star Catcher, Pippin, etc. 

Theyer adds, “The nature of the show being set in an airport waiting room, a lot of the props we saved like bags and luggage helped make it possible.” 

But what truly catches the eye and sets the scene is the backdrop. With a giant canvas to work with, multiple crew members would go on ladders with paint rollers to paint the window looking over a plane and blue sky. As rehearsals went on, the stage crew would paint in the background.

“Deciding what the backdrop is going to look like and painting it was the biggest project we were working on,” said junior and lead stage manager, Noah Kratt. 

Even with the 24-hour time frame, the show was finished and ready for its performance on Saturday. Without the work of every individual in the group, it would not have been the same.