A nearly spontaneous performance of the arts and literature called the Up All Night Performance Festival will take place Saturday night in the Globe Studio in Doudna at 7:30 p.m.

According to the description on Doudna’s website, the event is “a night of student-created performance. Past performances have included songs, skits, scenes, monologues, poetry and dance.”

All performances by the students are prepared and brought to life in roughly 30 hours before the doors open to the public. Performers will meet to begin their process Friday evening.

Nicholas Shaw, the chair of the theatre department, explained the event’s spontaneity.

“A long time ago there used to be what we would call 24-hour theatre, where you would get together on a night, like a Friday night, and then you would basically just create theatre overnight, and then the next day you would put on the show that you created,” Shaw said. “So we’re basically doing the same thing.”

Shaw also noted that the event isn’t limited to theatrics, and other types of performance are welcome.

“But we don’t call it theatre because we invite other people so some people might sing, some people might do poetry readings, they may dance, we’re opening it up to any kind of performance,” Shaw said.

All participants have access to the theater for all of Friday night and during the day Saturday, Shaw said, with limited faculty involvement in the creation of their performances.

“There aren’t really a lot of rules. The most important thing is that we’ve given the students the theater for the night and the next day, and it’s kind of up to them to do whatever they want or think is best,” Shaw said.

This is the third Up All Night event, and Shaw said he doesn’t know what to expect, but thinks that the impact of COVID-19 will play a part in this year’s performances.

“I have no idea what this is going to look like. It’s going to be weird and strange, but it’s going to be what the students want to do,” Shaw said. “I think a lot of students have been sort of locked in their rooms over the last 18 months or so, but it may be a little bit darker than in previous years because I think there’s some processing that’s happening with that, but there may be a little bit more joy than in previous years because students are currently out of their houses and their dorms and they’re kind of moving around in a more normal way.”

The event is free and general admission.

Ryan Meyer can be reached at 581-2812 or at rameyer@eiu.edu.