A madcap whirlwind of theatrical creation will take place this weekend, when Vashon Center for the Arts again joins forces with Open Space for Arts & Community to present four performances of “14/48 Vashon: The World’s Quickest Island Theater Festival,” at VCA’s Katherine L. White Hall.

It’s the third local incarnation of the art-generating adventure, a fly festival that brings together theater artists and community members to create, produce and perform 14 world premiere short plays in 48 hours.

Performances of the first set of seven plays are at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19. The second set of plays can be seen at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20.

“It’s scripted improv,” said Mik Kulhman, a well-known performer and writer who has been instrumental in bringing the festival to Vashon. “You’re flying by the seat of your pants.”

Kulman was part of the genesis of the “14/48” festival when it was first created by a group of improv and theater artists in Seattle 21 years ago. Two decades later, the festival is still a Seattle favorite, and its concept has also spread to other U.S. cities as well as the United Kingdom.

“The whole impetus for the festival is that this is a training ground,” Kulhman said. “It’s important for all of us to be pliable and make quick decisions and to have fun, and to do it in a short time. I’ve always done it, and I attribute a lot of my acting skills to it.”

Audiences have the least stressful job of the weekend — all they need to do is attend one of the shows. But behind the scenes, sleep-starved writers, actors, director, musicians and designers will race the clock to get the plays ready.

The fun will start on Thursday night, when seven writers will gather to dip their hands into a hat to randomly select a theme for a new play. Finished plays will be due from the writers early the next morning. After that, directors draw from the hat, determining which play they will direct. Actors are also chosen at random to be in the shows. It’s the luck of the draw, but by 7 p.m Friday, ready or not, all the players will take to the stage to debut what they have created.

The whole process is repeated again on Saturday with a fresh batch of seven new plays.

Theater artists involved in the Vashon version of the festival include Tracy Barrett, Tom Pruiksma, Maria Glanz, Martha Enson, Lynann Politte, Chris Boscia, Mary Paradise, Cyra Jane, Trista Baldwin and Deb Pierce McCabe.

Kulhman also hopes that other islanders will step forward at the last minute to become involved. Volunteers who wish to gather props and do other work to get the plays ready should simply show up at Vashon Center for the Arts at 10 a.m. on Saturday or Sunday.

“This is a way of building community, and also letting art have its own journey,” Kulhman said. Tickets to the show are $10-$18 for the 7 p.m. shows, and there is a suggested donation of $12 for the 9 p.m. shows. Visit www.vashoncenterforthearts.org for more information.

Disclosure: After filing this story about the “14/48” new plays festival, Beachcomber staff member Elizabeth Shepherd was asked to step in as one of the playwrights for the festival. Her work will be on view at VCA, along with the other plays created for the festival, on Friday and Saturday.