24 hours of writing, directing, rehearsing and performing

St. Joe’s student-run theatre company, Followed by a Bear, launched its first annual Play in a Day event on Nov. 2 in The Perch.

About 20 participants were randomly assigned to four teams—Chucky, Freddy, Michael and Jason—and given 24 hours to write, rehearse and perform a short, Halloween-themed play.

Kayla Evangelisto ’19, Followed by a Bear’s president, said the goals of the event were social and educational.

“Within the different groups, people get to know each other better and make new friends,” Evangelisto said. “At the same time, [they] learn how to manage their time and work under intense time and creative pressure.”

Followed By a Bear was created in 2013 with the goal of providing students with an opportunity to do theater in a relaxed environment.

All of the group’s work is written, directed, produced and performed by students. Everyone who wanted to participate in the club was encouraged to join. No previous experience was necessary.

Play in a Day debuted one of the club’s regular performances and was inspired by the work of past vice-president Morgan Hayes ’18, who had participated in a similar event with another theatre troupe.

The Play in a Day event provided participants with complete creative freedom, with time as the only restriction—24 hours from concept to performance.

Louis Serlenga ’21 said he has participated in the club since his freshman year. Belonging to the club is a big part of his identity as a student.

“It’s something new, fresh and exciting,” Serlenga said. “To be a part of this club is something really special and this event is no exception.”

The event kicked off at 8 p.m. on Nov. 2 in Claver House, where the Followed by a Bear executive board greeted the participants with Halloween music, cookies and chips.

The first hour was used to explain the rules and expectations, wherein participants were assigned to groups. Then they were given 11 hours to write the story and 11 hours to rehearse and perfect their play. The last hour was set aside for performances.

Given the proximity to Halloween, the four groups were named after notorious horror film characters—Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Chucky and Jason Voorhees. The groups then had to use the character in their play. Each group had one writer, one director and between two and four actors.

Team Chucky’s director, Mattie Yoncha ’20, said that her group decided early that they would use comedy as vehicle for their narrative. She said despite the writer having done the actual writing, all of the members of the group contributed to the story.

“We all agreed to do comedy because it’s what we do best, and who doesn’t love comedy?” Yoncha said. “We all brought stuff to the table. We had a lot of fun doing this and I’m very happy with the result.”

Katie Sellars ’21, director of Team Jason said most groups tried to maximize their allotted time.

“Our group worked until 3:00 a.m.,” Sellars said. “Then we went to bed for about five hours, and regrouped to rehearse our play.”

In the final hour on Saturday at 8 p.m., each of the four groups performed their play in front of an audience. Past Followed by a Bear alumni judged the plays as a competition.

Anthony Paparo ’18, a judge and one of the group’s former writers and directors, said that he was glad he came out to see the show.

“I thought it was fantastic,” Paparo said. “I think that every scene had something different that everyone in the audience could latch on to and relate to, which is hard to in 24 hours.”

Julia Sinkbeil ’22, who was in the audience, said she stumbled on the event by accident while working in The Perch, but she was happy that she did because she enjoyed the show.

“I was just working here tonight, I didn’t know that this was happening,” Sinkbeil said. “But I’m glad I stayed. This was really funny and cool how they did it all in one day.”

Each group received recognition for its play. Team Michael Myers received the outstanding costume award. Outstanding set design was awarded to team Freddy Krueger, with team Chucky winning the outstanding acting award.

Team Jason Voorhees won the overall competition.

Diego Ramirez ’22, an actor in team Jason, said that it felt really rewarding to win the competition.

“I can’t wait to do it again next time,” Ramirez said. “Winning feels like ‘woo’ not only because it’s my first time acting here at St. Joe’s, but also because it feels like all of our hard work paid off.”