Skits, songs and poetry were all created and performed during the 24-Hour No Shame Play Festival.

Students came together at 7 p.m. on Sept. 22 in the Globe Theatre to get in groups and begin the creation of their acts, which they performed on Saturday that evening.

Anne Thibault, assistant professor of acting, said the festival was planned to be a bonding experience for anyone interested in theatre.

“We wanted something that was early on so everybody could get to know each other and work together throughout the year and bring out different parts of their creativity,” Thibault said. “A tech person might love to perform but not always get the chance or an actor may always want to write and not get the chance. So, this will give them the opportunity to explore their creativity with very few limits.”

Thibault said she was inspired to help create Eastern’s first 24-hour theatre festival by similar festivals she saw while living in New York City.

“I think students are really hungry to drive their own work and I also think it’s really important as an artist to own your own work and to not wait for opportunities, but to learn how to create on your own with very little props, very few costumes, very little set and kind of figure out how to make that part your own,” Thibault said. “When they go out into the real world that’s what going to be doing when they start out in their careers.”

Brooke McWherter, a sophomore theatre major who took the lead in technical design for the festival, said she was excited by the amount of performers who showed up to display their talents.

“Seeing around 30 people come and be overjoyed to do this stuff is really, really exciting,” McWherter said.

McWherter said in the future she would love for this festival to become an annual event.

Robert Newman III, freshman theatre major, said the idea for the skit he participated in, called “Rocky Relationship”, was created by ideas of all the students in his group. He said the skit does not use clichés and he is thrilled to try something new.

“I just want to change the game,” Newman said. “I don’t think anyone has seen this before.”

Newman said while he is nervous because this is his first time writing a play, he said he is curious to see what he can do.

“This will really show how much character and what kind of an actor I am,” he said.

Lunchbox Voodoo finished the festival off with a few comedic skits including “Mr. Rogers has a Breakdown” and “Ratchet Church”.

Gena Geis, computational physics major and Lunchbox Voodoo member, said as the newest member she is excited for her first performance with the group.

“You really just need like a bare-bone script and then you just sort of go from there,” Geis said.

Geis said since she was feeling “slammed” with her physics workload she decided to venture into an artistic group that had nothing to with science.

“I need that outlet. I need to just shake all the sillies out. It’s better than drinking I think,” Geis said. “I think it will be really relaxing.”

“It feels good to be exercising a different part of my brain,” Geis said. “A lot of stuff does transfer over because usually science majors are pretty detail oriented. We’re used to working hard and putting a lot of energy into things, so I think that will lend itself well.”

Chrissy Miller can be reached at cmiller9@eiu.edu.