By Daily Press staff
The new installment of the Ruskin Group Theatre’s popular L.A. Café Plays, dubbed the “Fastest Theater in Town” because five short plays go from conception to execution in just 10 and half hours, will be staged on Sunday, Oct. 15, at 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. at Ruskin Group Theatre, 3000 Airport Drive at Santa Monica Airport.
Past participants in the Café Plays, as director or actor, have included such luminaries as Dylan McDermott (“The Practice”), Olivia D’Abo (“The Wonder Years”) and Dan Lauria (“The Wonder Years,”“Jag”).
Although several theaters throughout the country have staged 24-hour plays, Ruskin producers Mike Myers, Erin Kelly and Michael Laurie have upped the stakes and cut that time by more than half. In addition, the speed plays are produced monthly.
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.
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.
With its unique location at Santa Monica Airport, ample free parking and a talented, vigorous ensemble, Ruskin Group Theatre is making an impact on the Westside and Los Angeles area theatrical scene.
Tickets for “L.A. Café Plays” are $10. Call (310) 397-3244 or go to http://www.ruskingrouptheatre.com.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 13, 2006. Read the original PDF.