Preston Weber decided he's up to the task of braving the bright stage lights after only 13 hours of rehearsal.

His skills will be put to the test on Jan. 9, when he and other 24 students perform in Plan-B Theatre Company's third annual Student Slam, produced by Plan-B Theatre and Theatre Arts Conservatory.

"It's pretty new for me," said the 17 year-old high school drama student. "I'm a teenager. I'm kind of a slacker and this whole thing is kind of last-minute deal so I can totally do it."

Slam is an event that creates five 10-minute plays, written overnight by local professional playwrights, and then rehearsed the next day by student actors working with professional directors. Theatergoers see the results in the 24th hour, when 25 young actors, ranging in age from 14 to 21, take the stage.

The theater company initiates the project under strict secrecy, before writers are randomly assigned topics for their scripts, which directors receive the next morning.

This year, the five playwrights and three of the five directors are members of a local Theatre Playwrights/Directors Lab, a joint project of the Plan-B and Meat & Potato theater companies.

After good ticket sales in previous years, the event will move from the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center's 200-seat Black Box to the 500-seat Jeanne Wagner Theater. The event is the main fundraiser for the Theatre Arts Conservatory. "It will be fun. We'll get to share the experience with more students," said Colleen Lewis, the nonprofit's artistic director.