It’s coming up on that time of year again… Theatre Unbound’s 24:00:00 Xtreme Theatre Smackdown. I reviewed the Smackdown last year and am looking forward to this year’s event, since they’re all different. Since this is a one-night-a-year event, here’s your reminder to catch this year’s action! This year’s event is happening on Saturday, January 10 at the Anne Simley Theatre of Hamline University; 1536 Hewitt Avenue, St Paul. The show is at 8pm, with tickets $18-20; you can reserve yours by calling 612-721-1186 or go online at www.theatreunbound.com ..

Whether or not you opt to attend, you can participate in the production of the Smackdown! Here’s how it works: throughout November, people can suggest script “ingredients” via Theatre Unbound’s Facebook page, and then in November, voters can visit http://www.theatreunbound.com and vote for their favourite ingredients (categories include: a line of dialogue, an emotion, a prop, or something “random”). Then, on Friday, January 9 the playwrights will be given a list of the winning ingredients, and the Smackdown is on — time to write a brand new play, assign each script to a director and a cast, and perform the play the following evening. So, keep it in mind for the post-holiday season; last year’s was really fun to watch.