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# Ruskin Group Theatre's Fastest Theater in Town stages five plays in 10 hours
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/021006-story-20060210-2/
- Published: 2006-02-10T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T23:12:23.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

Call it local theater on steroids. The Ruskin Group Theatre’s “L.A. Café Plays” — dubbed the “Fastest Theater in Town” because five short plays go from conception to execution in just 10 1/2 hours — will be held Sunday, Feb. 19.

The February “Café Plays” will be staged at 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. at Ruskin Group Theatre, 3000 Airport Ave. at Santa Monica Airport. The theme will be “Till Death Do Us Part.” Although several theaters throughout the country have staged 24-hour plays, Ruskin producers Markus Flanagan, Mike Myers, Erin Kelly and Michael Laurie have upped the stakes and cut that time by more than half.

At 9 a.m. the day of the performance, five writers gather at Back on Broadway, a café-restaurant in Santa Monica. Each writer picks at random two manila envelopes containing actors’ headshots. They are then given four hours to write a seven-to 10-page one-act play that takes place in a café. The directors then take over, meet their actors, and begin rehearsals.

“I wanted a format that forced everyone involved to trust the process and ignore the result. And I have to say it works,” Flanagan said. “Everyone always leaves with a better understanding of their creative process. Plus it’s just so fresh and electric, it’s always a great night to be in the room.”

The Ruskin Group Theatre, founded in 2002, has not only produced several critically acclaimed shows, it has done extensive outreach, teaching and performing in correctional facilities, boys’ homes, nursing homes and more throughout Southern California. Aside from its productions and Café Plays, it also develops new works through its “Something ” series. Ruskin is currently producing the comedy “That May Well Be True,” which runs Feb. 10 through April 1.

Tickets for “L.A. Café Plays” are $10\. Call (310) 397-3244 or go to http://www.ruskingrouptheatre.com. Playwright makes his mark in SM

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 10, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/021006.pdf?ref=smdp.com)