SLAM dunks writers, actors, directors into speed mode

Traditionally, directors have not only read a script numerous times before standing in front of their cast, they have a good understanding of the nuance and know what the blocking will generally look like.

"In SLAM, you have to make instant choices and you have to stick with them — directing is terrifying."

Bateman, like many directors, uses the typical three-week rehearsal process to explore and experiment. Not with SLAM, "You'll maybe read it two or three times but then you just have to get up and go."

"They rehearse in five spaces throughout the building. Then we take five-minute breaks every hour and rotate," Rapier said.

Normally, plays are mounted in three to five weeks, getting roughly 136 to 184 hours of rehearsal time and 20+ hours of technical rehearsals.

But with SLAM, Rapier notes, "The casts get seven hours of rehearsal and 30 minutes of tech rehearsals."

"We have lunch at 3:30 and people are saying, 'Oh my gosh it's so much fun!' They're pumped and excited. We eat and then they realize that in just a few hours they have to do the show. Then the dread and panic set in."

From an acting perspective, Bateman adds, "Memorization is probably the most difficult part. There gets to be a time where everybody is ghost white."

"They're literally rehearsing until we open the house," Rapier said about the final hours. "The funniest thing every year is telling them it's 'places' and looking at their faces and the terror there."

Time to show their work.

"I think it's the most involved I've ever felt an audience," Rapier said. "They just feel part of it. There's a different energy at SLAM than at other shows. If something is rough, the audience is very supportive of that. Everybody really wants them to succeed."

As for the final product? "What's great is generally, it comes off without a hitch and 24 hours prior, these plays didn't exist," Rapier said.

"It's so much fun and so terrifying," Bateman added. "It's just adrenaline. It really is like taking a theater drug or something."

Samuelsen agrees. "Well, it's just exhilarating. It's great, great fun. It's the most terrifying thing you do, ever. But the adrenaline high is just great. That's why I do it — it's like tightrope walking without a safety net."

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E-mail: ehansen@desnews.com

If you go ...

What: Fifth annual SLAM, Plan-B Theatre Company

Where: Rose Wagner Theatre, 138 W. 300 South

When: Saturday, 8 p.m.

How much: $18

Phone: 355-2787

Web: www.planbtheatre.org