The question: Can 15 artists living in 7 different cities come together to create 3 new 10-minute plays from scratch in a 24 hour time period?

The pitch: It began with a single mass e-mail, and unexpectedly it became the origin of the No One Way Arts Collaborative. The hope behind this project was simple — to bring theatre artists together, professionals and hobbyists alike, and see what would be created when given the opportunity, the space and the time. Because participants would be taking a break from their day-to-day affairs and flying into Denver from destinations all over the country, the project could necessarily only span a single weekend. Hence, "Speed Theater" was born.

The plan: The loose plan was to break the group into three parts and have each part create a 10-minute play from scratch. There would be three writers, who would also direct each piece, eleven actors, and one Commissar whose task would be to oversee the entire project. The writers would have from 6:00 pm on Friday evening until 8:00 am on Saturday morning to produce a complete script. The actors would have all day Saturday to rehearse and memorize lines, and then the show would go on at 7:00 pm for a live audience &mdash come what may! Community members would be invited to return on Sunday afternoon for a free workshop hosted by project participants, and they could learn a little bit about the speed theater process.

The location: The project was hosted in the basement of a church near Wash Park in Denver, and all 15 participants slept in sleeping bags on the floor of Andrea's mom's house in Capitol Hill, packed in like sardines.