The 14/48 Festival @ Seattle Center House

The greater Seattle theatre community’s grand ritual returns. It’s a celebration of unity, ingenuity, and the kind of pressure that makes diamonds. It’s the winter edition of 14/48: The World’s Quickest Theater Festival, a show that has been going strong since 1997.

What’s 14/48? The short version: It’s two 24-hour play festivals in a row, then a full restart for week #2.

50+ theatre artists gather Thursday evening to draw a theme from the Cone of Destiny. Then the playwrights vanish into the night to create ten-minute plays. The following morning, everybody hits the ground running with the added rub that the directors and cast are drawn completely at random. Add a design team champing at the bit and a live band tasked with connecting all the dots (plus an original song or two). At 8 pm, by hook or by crook, seven brand-new plays premiere to a raucous audience. Then before the late show, a new theme is chosen and the process starts anew.

The roster remains under wraps, but rumors promise a delightful selection. Expect controlled chaos, unabashed emotion, and the type of weirdness that only emerges at 3 am, fueled by Red Bull and dreams.

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