Of the 25 established student clubs at NYU Shanghai, the Thespians have actively been striving to engage in intriguing and high quality performances since October 2013.
On the evening of November 8, 2014, the club presented its second annual "24 Hour Play" event, where participating members showcased a creative effort of completed works—the result of writing, casting, directing, rehearsing, producing, and performing, all within a 24-hour deadline.
Beneath the chiaroscuro of auditorium lights ran their four short plays: "Post-Apocalyptic Shanghai," "Meeting in the Middle," "Pollution Peace," and "Happy Refrigerator Land." Illuminating at times with comedic profundity, the Thespians addressed environmental concerns through a surviving plight of food-scavenging students in "Post-Apocalyptic Shanghai" and through a sketch personifying the mischievousness and wit of particulate matter in "Pollution Peace."
"Happy Refrigerator Land" featured a metaphorically exaggerated performance of illustrating original sin, using cannibalism of personified refrigerator contents, while "Meeting in the Middle" reflected the struggles of distance between people, places, and time.
Under a rain of applause at the show’s closing, the treasurer of the Thespian Executive Board concluded, "I would say that for me, the goal this time was to unite both classes under the same spirit of the '24 Hour Play'...At the end, the goal was accomplished, and many freshmen showed so much talent. I am impressed with our capacity to work together and produce this type of work."
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Written by Liu Lingyi