Madness is the norm during Red Eye Theatre

When Nicholas Hess has an idea, it is usually best to get out of his way and watch his nervous energy, downright need for perfectly chaotic order and occasionally flailing of arms as he creates with trantrum-esque direction.

It is quite the thing to witness his stage characters and pushed-to-limit directing of full stage production, but even more so to watch his local Red Eye Theatre Project, a little gem he created about four years ago.

Hess may very well be a madman, but he's the right kind of madman to attempt producing six short plays that are written, cast, directed, blocked, staged, rehearsed and performed within a 24-hour period.

And he does this with a combo of experienced thespians working side by side with directors who have never directed before, actors who have never acted before and gutsy writers who create their scripts after picking their casts.

This past week at the Barrow-Civic Theatre a fairly large audience got a chance see the results of this maddening effort with impressive performances. Hess and his team of Brooke Lawrie, Yelena Carvin and his equally energetic mom Bridget Tomaszewski intermingled veterans with inexperienced actors to create the ensembles. Along the way, some new directors learned they can direct and some old actors learned they can write.

The outcome - they put butts in theater seats for a unique entertainment experience of raw, original work and once-in-lifetime performances. And they do it here in little ol' Franklin, Pennsylvania.

Below see a few more photographs from the performance. Tto see even more visit this website.