GULF SHORES — She placed the Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls on the counter in the break room at South Baldwin Community Theatre.

"I'm gonna Google this," she said, motioning to the dolls.

Gulf Shores resident and playwright Laura Pfizenmayer is no stranger to imagination. She's been a playwright for about 30 years, written over 100 plays; and she just got a new assignment.

On Friday, June 19, Pfizenmayer was taking part in SBCT's 24-hour play festival, which she created three years ago with the help of Steve Henry, the president of SBCT.

The event invites anyone willing and able to take part in a production in which you only have 24 hours to write, direct and rehearse before putting on the show. Six groups are randomly picked through a lottery system, matching actors, playwrights and directors to create teams.

Props are curated by the theater's prop chairperson, Barbara Campbell — also affectionately known as the "prop mistress." The playwrights are then required to write their prop into their 10-minute play and use it as a creative guide. This year, Raggedy Ann and Andy were Pfizenmayer's props.

Her first 24-hour play festival prop, she said, was a casserole dish.

"Here's the funny thing: 'Bad Casserole' has already been published by a legit publisher, and it's being done all over the country," she said.

She said she has also had her plays go international.

Pfizenmayer has lived in Gulf Shore for 16 years, and before that she lived in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

"I learned everything I know about writing plays there," she said.

She learned from the several playwright groups she attended at Rock Hill Theatre and Theatre Charlotte. This inspired her to help start the Playwrights and Storytellers group that meets once a month at South Baldwin Community Theatre.

In a process best described as organized chaos, SBCT Vice President Jeremy Sullivan quickly drew names out of a spinning metallic bin on the stage and stuck them with glue on a white board while participants waited in the crowd to see what team they were going to be assigned.

Henry, SCBT president, said this year had a bigger turnout.

"I think we have 30-plus actors. I think last year we had 18," he said.

Pfizenmayer met with her assigned team around 7:30 p.m. then started writing until she finished around 11:30 p.m.

Saturday morning, everyone got up to read the fresh scripts, rehearse and take turns staging their plays before they put on a brand-new original play at 7:30 p.m. The doors opened at 7 p.m., and people shuffled into the theater, filling almost every seat.

From Russian spies to a haunted talking bird, the six short plays had a full range of possibilities. Pfizenmayer's play called “The Raggediest Birthday Ever!” was last in the lineup — a placement she said she preferred.

Her play followed a kid visiting his grandparents, which he begrudgingly only did for his Mom. The crowd laughed at the young actor's disgusted mannerisms and the jokes that were cracked by the older actors on the cast. Then, the young boy was given the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, which transported him to Oz, where he belted a rendition of "Defying Gravity" from the Broadway and now movie musical "Wicked"

Pfizenmayer specifically wrote in the ballad for the young actor, Elias Nobel.

"This theater is a treasure," she said. "[The festival] is the most fun weekend of the year at the theater because it is so spontaneous. It moves so fast, you don't have time to worry about whether you're perfect or not."

SBCT's next performance is "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." Showtimes will be at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. from July 24 to Aug. 2 at 2022 W. Second St.