“24 hours, 20 episodes, zero sleeps.”
That’s the tagline for The Upfront Theatre’s upcoming “Days of Our Nights,” a 24-hour improvised soap opera marathon that begins Friday, Aug. 9.
A rotating cast of improv actors will perform a day-long episodic soap opera, with “episodes” beginning every hour on the hour, starting Friday night at 10 p.m. The nonprofit wanted to celebrate its 20th anniversary with something “big and ridiculous,” said general manager Gillian Myers, a soap opera fan who loves the melodrama and over-the-top acting of the genre.
Characters will come and go, but a few stalwart cast members plan to act for 24 hours straight, and there’s a good chance the show goes off the rails in an entertaining fashion as sleep-deprived performers get loopy or manic.
The Upfront Theatre has hosted improv-athons before but this will be the first time all the action will take place in the same world. With off-the-wall storylines and ridiculous character arcs, soap operas provide a natural structure for improv, Myers said.
Viewers can purchase tickets for a single episode or an all-access pass for the whole shebang. The improv-athon will include giveaways from local businesses, catered meals for pass holders and, of course, audience participation. Any audience member who manages to stick it out for the duration of the show will receive 10 free tickets to future Upfront shows and will be entered into a drawing for a free year pass. No one can predict how the “Days of Our Nights” grand finale, which begins on Saturday, Aug. 10 at 8 p.m., will unfold.
“We’ll find out together how the story evolves and devolves,” Myers said. “Just come ready to have fun. The main goal is always to be open to whatever happens. It’s going to get weird, so don’t question the storyline too much.”
The small theater, which spent 16 years at the end of Bay Street before moving to its current home on Prospect Street, has nurtured performers who have gone on to bigger stages in Chicago, Orlando, New York and Los Angeles. Some Upfront alumni will be back in town to celebrate the anniversary and test their improv endurance. The Alumni All Stars show, happening before the soap opera starts on Friday night, has already sold out.
“Bellingham seems like a really good improv town, and a good performing arts town,” Myers said.
If watching the improv-athon sparks your creativity, Upfront hosts eight-week improv classes, a monthly drop-in class and open mic sessions. Auditions to join the cast happen twice a year.
“We try to create a space that’s safe to get out of your comfort zone,” Myers said. “You can dip your toe in or jump in, even if that just means being in the audience and calling out a suggestion.”
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
