These six actors are performing 30 plays in just 60 minutes

Magic is what Shannon Mason-Brown points to as allowing she and five others to tackle the monumental feat of showcasing 30 plays in 60 minutes.

She, along with husband, Rob, are the minds behind the Fred Skeleton Theatre Company. The troupe is performing a play at the Rotary Centre for the Arts that has been a staple in Chicago since 1988 – and is that city’s longest running stage show.

It’s hard to describe Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (TMLMTBGB) as a single show, because it’s an ensemble.

“It feels like an improv show but it’s not actually an improv show,” Rob told Kelowna10.

He and Shannon started the company in 2012 and both perform in the comedy as well.

“After two and a half years of being on hold because COVID kind of paused everything, we wanted to pick a show that was lighthearted so we could just get together and have a laugh,” Shannon said.

A string hung above the stage at the Mary Irwin Theatre guides the night. It has 30-numbered pieces of paper hanging from it, and each has a play written on the back.

Audience interaction is interwoven into TMLMTBGB.

After each play has come to an end, the crowd is instructed to yell out a number. An actor will grab the coinciding piece of paper and announce the next play.

The haste of the night sees the crumpled balls of the paper scattered across the floor.

A timer is projected onto the curtain at the back of the stage to “keep the actors honest,” counting down how much time is left.

Some of the plays are full length scenes, while others can happen very quickly, like a 30 second game of tag where the crowd can be ‘it’, too.

“There is audience interaction but it’s not scary interaction,” Rob said. “I don’t want people being scared to come because they’re going to be dragged up on stage … some people do come up on stage, but you do, kind of, have to volunteer.”

Because the plays are chosen in random order, no two shows are the same. This can challenge the performers’ ability to improvise if, for example, they need a prop which was moved to the other side of the stage in a previous scene.

The tech team also has to be on its toes to cue up the proper lighting and sound effects in a set list not in any particular order.

The challenge is to get through all 30, very different, plays in the hour slot.

“There’s a mix of quite silly, to quite dramatic, to poignant moments, to just ridiculous,” Shannon said. “It covers a lot of genres and emotions.”