BRUNSWICK – We’ve all heard of danceathons. Marathons. Walkathons.

Saturday, Jan. 10, the Theater Project will present its second improvATHON.

From 1 to 6 p.m,. members of the Theater Project’s Young Company, composed entirely of high-school age actors, will play “Interruption,” an improvisational game that company members normally play as part of warm-ups before shows and rehearsals.

Only this time, they can’t stop. For five hours.

“The improvATHON was such a hit last year, we knew we had to do it again,” said Executive Director Wendy Poole. “The Young Company has boundless energy and so much love for the theater. This is their contribution to our fundraising efforts.”

Here’s how it works: a single actor comes on stage, and waits. A second actor joins him or her and begins an original, unrehearsed scene. He might demand money. Ask for a date. Pick a fight.

For 30 seconds, the two play out this scene until a third actor enters. Actor 1 exits and actor 3 begins a completely new scene, which actor 2 must go along with for 30 seconds – until a fourth actor arrives, bumping whoever has been on stage the longest and changing the scene’s direction yet again.

It’s circular, creative, funny – and exhausting.

“Everyone will get a break,” Poole said. “Plus food and plenty of water. But it’s definitely hard work. The kids will really earn their money.”

In advance of the improvATHON, actors will collect pledges, either for the entire event or a certain amount for every hour they last. All the money raised will go toward the Theater Project’s Young Company and Young People’s Theater programs. Besides pledges, $1 general admission tickets to the event will be sold all day.

Expect the unexpected. Last year, one of the actors volunteered to shave his head on-stage.

For more information or to make a pledge, call The Theater Project, 14 School St., at 729-8584.

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