Every 28 Hour Plays
The Every 28 Hours Plays consist of around 80 one-minute plays inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, with participation from artists across the country including David Henry Wang, Neil LaBute, Stew, Universes, Kristoffer Diaz, Jacqueline Lawton, Migdalia Cruz, Lisa Loomer, and Lynn Nottage among others.
Produced by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival under the leadership of Claudia Alick (OSF’s Associate Producer, Community) and The One-Minute Play Festival with Dominic D’Andrea (Producing Artistic Director,) in association with local St. Louis theatre companies, and writers and directors across the country, we have developed The Every 28 Hours Plays, in a national partnership focused on the widely shared and contested statistic that every twenty-eight hours a black person is killed by vigilante, security guard, or the police in the United States.
During Phase One, we connected with theatres and playwrights around the country to craft a selection of one minute plays reflective of the current civil rights movement, or to send artists to St. Louis to develop the work on the ground with us.
During Phase Two, Claudia and Dominic traveled to St. Louis along with some other national artists and engaged in a week of artistic exchange with guest and St. Louis-based artists. They attended a lecture in UMSL Touhill Theatre by Dr. Terry Jones on race relations, and the history of St. Louis that led to the events in Ferguson; met with Duane Fosters' students at Normandy High School (Michael Brown's school); toured Ferguson with artist/activist Marty Casey; and facilitated a conversation with activists, artivists, and a police officer at The Urban League.
During Phase Three, we aim to connect to artists and community members who care about this subject and want to find solutions. We aim to within a year, workshop in a national distributed practice, different ways for communities to engage with the plays and find ways to share these models. We aim for the work to be engaged with as many communities as possible. We aim for communities to generate their own original work on this subject. We aim for beautiful emotional engagement and empathetic exchanges. We aim for communities to find ways to discuss hard realities and find positive solutions. These goals are already being met. Click here to learn more.
Produced by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival under the leadership of Claudia Alick (OSF’s Associate Producer, Community) and The One-Minute Play Festival with Dominic D’Andrea (Producing Artistic Director,) in association with local St. Louis theatre companies, and writers and directors across the country, we have developed The Every 28 Hours Plays, in a national partnership focused on the widely shared and contested statistic that every twenty-eight hours a black person is killed by vigilante, security guard, or the police in the United States.
During Phase One, we connected with theatres and playwrights around the country to craft a selection of one minute plays reflective of the current civil rights movement, or to send artists to St. Louis to develop the work on the ground with us.
During Phase Two, Claudia and Dominic traveled to St. Louis along with some other national artists and engaged in a week of artistic exchange with guest and St. Louis-based artists. They attended a lecture in UMSL Touhill Theatre by Dr. Terry Jones on race relations, and the history of St. Louis that led to the events in Ferguson; met with Duane Fosters' students at Normandy High School (Michael Brown's school); toured Ferguson with artist/activist Marty Casey; and facilitated a conversation with activists, artivists, and a police officer at The Urban League.
During Phase Three, we aim to connect to artists and community members who care about this subject and want to find solutions. We aim to within a year, workshop in a national distributed practice, different ways for communities to engage with the plays and find ways to share these models. We aim for the work to be engaged with as many communities as possible. We aim for communities to generate their own original work on this subject. We aim for beautiful emotional engagement and empathetic exchanges. We aim for communities to find ways to discuss hard realities and find positive solutions. These goals are already being met. Click here to learn more.