The Palo Alto High School Theatre department is hosting its 11th annual “Play in a Day” at 8 p.m. on Dec. 20 in the Haymarket Theater.

“’Play in a Day’ is pretty much exactly what it sounds like,” producer senior Hannah Nguyen said. “A big group of current Paly students as well as Paly alumni come together for just over 24 hours to produce a series of short plays.”

According to Nguyen, participating actors and playwrights get together on Dec. 19 and are placed into groups. Each playwright is then assigned a theme and has to write a short play involving all the actors before 8 a.m. the next morning. After the script is finished, the actors rehearse all day for the performance at 8 p.m. on Dec. 20.

“The best part [of the event] is that it’s tradition for alumni to participate,” Nguyen said. “Everyone has so much fun spending time with old friends doing theatre for an entire day. Even though there’s always a time crunch and it seems like there’s no way that the plays are going to work, everything somehow magically comes together.”

Participants of the event echo the thoughts of Nguyen.

“I think it’s a lot of fun, and it’s a good opportunity for people that don’t really do theatre a lot to get involved,” senior Katherine Craig said. “It’s really hectic and crazy, but the end result is always hilarious and worth it.”

Those who want to sign up should contact Nguyen as soon as possible. For those who simply want to enjoy a night of theatre, tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for seniors and students. They can be bought at the door or online at the Paly Theatre website.