The time is 8 p.m., Friday night. Writers are given a prompt: “Master of Deception.” They get their start and it is off to the races. The scripts are finished by that morning, actors and directors work on the scenes all day and by 8 p.m. Saturday, Case Western Reserve University is gifted three new short plays. These ambitious theater enthusiasts (and perhaps a few adrenaline junkies) write, direct and put on a completely new play all in the span of 24 hours. It is a campus tradition that remains impressive.

This semester, Players’ Theater Group (PTG) put on a good show, three scenes centering around deception, all showcasing pretty strong comedic chops. To give a brief rundown of the sketches: the opening scene titled “The Great Laundry Deception,” saw two security guards, one a bit more worldly than the other, attempting to catch a prisoner that the more gullible guard let out for “Laundry Duty.” The second sketch “The Man With The Money At The Claw Machine (TMWTMATCW),” involved more small-scale deception. In performances truly deserving of an Oscar, the stars are a girl who knows how to get the money needed to win at the claw machine, the eponymous man and the ever important claw machine—a silent but deeply important role. Watching TMWTMATCW fail to flirt with this girl over and over while dropping counterfeit money and a photo of Jared Leto among other things was a truly special experience. It is a simple yet effective sketch that can only be written on a time constraint, half asleep. The closer, “On the House,” tells the tale of assassination attempts continuously going wrong. The feuding pair and (spoiler alert) the double crossing bartender take on their roles extremely seriously, playing out almost like a noir murder story. All the punchlines pay off rapidly at the end in a style very reminiscent of “Dear Sister” by the Lonely Island, leaving the audience rolling in laughter. The world will never know how one of the would-be double-crossers caught so much air in springing back to life. It was a tight set and I remain amazed that this was pulled off in 24 hours.

My favorite thing about Play in a Day is how welcoming it is. It is a feat of theatrical skill, but PTG welcomes anyone to write or audition—theater aficionados or not. As such, I sat down with one of the freshman actors starring in Play in a Day this year, Connor S. otherwise known as Gary the security guard from “The Great Laundry Deception.”

Penelope Cloonan: Hi Connor, let’s get straight into it. Did you have previous theater experience before Play in a Day? If so, how did you bring that experience into Play in a Day?

Connor S: I grew up doing little bits of theatre in summer camps and high school, and writing little shows in my bedroom, but I never wrote anything knowing for a fact that other people would see it. Those definitely gave me some practice from a writing end, but even then I’ve only ever created for the sake of creating rather than for other people’s entertainment. I’m not saying Play in a Day was just all “Oh yeah, make this thing that *has* to be good because you now have these expectations” or anything—I really really enjoyed it and would love to do it every chance I get—but [it] was a really new way of approaching the writing, especially because we were so limited with the time. I think I turned in my script around 2 a.m., and ended up sleeping at 4 a.m., only to wake up at 7:30 to start rehearsals. For acting, my high school has this thing called the student directed showcase, where four seniors each year get to direct their own 30-minute selections of pre-existing plays. I did that three times, and that definitely gave me a good idea about how to approach Play in a Day as an actor because we were working so closely together as peers and figuring it all out in real time together.

PS: Awesome. You’re a first-year, so I’m assuming this was your first time with Play in a Day. Are there any things that surprised you about Play in a Day, good or bad?

CS: This is my first! I was really surprised we had this here because I had applied to some other colleges that had advertised their own 24-hour theatre and thought that it would be something I wouldn’t get here (and I would have to start myself), so I was very pleasantly surprised when it was announced. Especially because I’m a freshman, I was a bit scared about having to break my way into the theatre scene (also largely because I’m not a theatre major or minor), but I was able to make so many friends just in those 24 hours from how closely we all worked together. I was also terrified to see how people would respond to the show I wrote (On the House) because it was one of the first times something I wrote wasn’t being performed by me in my bedroom, but people seemed to really like it which was awesome.

PS: Anything else you want to say about Play in a Day or your experience?

CS: I think it’s an experience anyone would like, even if you aren’t a theatre person or you have never acted in your life. If anything, it’s like this constant stream of adrenaline the entire day where you get super invested in this one thing for a day and then boom, it’s over and what you’ve made is out there forever, but you get to know people so much better and find a community you may have never anticipated being so involved in.

For those of you who missed it this past weekend, I have good news. Play in a Day is semesterly, and should you want to participate, or watch in support, be sure to check back in at the beginning of Spring Semester. If you can’t wait for more PTG, check out their Youtube channel to see recorded performances or go see PTG Live!—another favorite tradition—on Oct. 24.