THE 24 HOUR PLAYS: THE NATIONALS Set for 8/7-10

The 24 Hour Company, which produces The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway, The 24 Hour Musicals, and 24 Hour Play festivals around the world, is working with longtime collaborator The New School for Drama to bring The 24 Hour Plays: The Nationals to New York City from August 7 through 10, 2013. Six writers, six directors, six producers, and 24 actors will be chosen for the project. After two days of intensive workshops, the assembled team will produce their own 24 Hour Plays at a theater in Manhattan. The program is open to high school students, college students and recent college graduates aged 16 to 24. Submissions are due on May 1.
"It's a great opportunity for young artists to meet their peers and begin building the relationships that will serve them throughout their careers," says 24 Hour Plays founding producer Tina Fallon. "We are seeking the very best of the next generation of theater artists - and we will arm them with what they need to find their way in this business. Which is to say: each other."

"The New School for Drama and The 24 Hour Company share an abiding belief in the power of intelligent collaboration to develop transformative new voices for the theater," said Pippin Parker, director of The New School for Drama. "Many New School for Drama alumni are also alumni of the 24 Hour Plays - and we're thrilled to be host and partner this summer for The Nationals."

In 2007, a pilot version of the program took place in New York. Young actors, writers, directors and producers from around the country applied for a chance to be part of a series of intensive workshops, panel discussions, and finally a production of The 24 Hour Plays at Off-Broadway's Atlantic Theater. Workshops included monologue and team-building exercises with the Old Vic's Kevin Spacey, panel talks with Claire Danes, Rachel Dratch, Aasif Mandvi, Adam Bock and Warren Leight, and - most importantly - the chance to work with other brilliant young practitioners.