THE 24 HOUR PLAYS: NATIONALS Celebrates 10th Year of Bringing Together Young Artists

The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, now in its 10th year, once again brought together an extraordinary group of young artists for a free professional intensive culminating in their own production of The 24 Hour Plays - available for streaming through Saturday, July 31. Actors, directors, playwrights, producers, and composers joined their peers to create new work and build community.

The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals kicked off last week with a round of The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues featuring the 43 participants, all 25 years of age or younger. Throughout the week, the Nationals company engaged in intensive workshops, panel discussions with industry game-changers, which culminated in The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, wherein the participants came together to create six new works written, rehearsed and performed in 24 hours.

"I came to The 24 Hour Plays as a young artist because I needed a community," said Mark Armstrong, The 24 Hour Plays Artistic Director. "After this year of many challenges, it was incredible to watch this group rise up together, create and build their own community that will sustain them throughout their careers."

Below is a brief synopsis of The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals performances, which are available on-demand at https://24hourplays.com/nationals/. The work will be available to view until Sunday, August 1, 2021.

In Act One, Katherine Di Lillo, Pearl Emerson, Sophia Drapeau and Julia D'Angelo performed "killing of a sacred popstar (and her manager)" written by Tristan Raak, directed by Ariel Urim Chung and produced by Brett Iarrobino. The piece follows Victoria Queensland, Australia's Biggest Popstar, as she drives ever so fast with her manager, Barbara Brenda, in the passenger's seat.

Mya Wong, Eric J. Cheng, Jessie Shaw and Jesse Castellanos performed "Jack's Beard" by Kenjiro Lee. The piece, directed by Abbey Joan Burgess and produced by Alison Yueming Qu, largely relies on dream logic as it follows the tale of a boy named Jack and his facial hair.

Jasmine Sharma, Blake Fisher, India Stachyra and Jackie Leon performed "YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE BIRTHDAY ROAST OF REBECCA KANTOWITZ, A ZOOM BAT MITZVAH," by Alex Lin, directed by Nico Krell. The piece follows a virtual birthday party for Rebecca, featuring her cousin and two best friends. It was produced by Angelica McEwan.

Act Two began with a performance of "Here Comes" by Ellie Melick, directed by Sarah Boess and produced by Lee Harrison Daniel featuring Caroline Kinley, Ben Teitelbaum, Katherine Bahena-Benitez and Isabel Wynne. The piece follows messy bride-to-be, Melissa, and her bridal party during her virtual wedding dress consultation at Bittman's Bridal.

Amara Leonard, Tessa Albertson, Danté Crichlow and Tatyana Mack performed "Are You Still Watching?" written by Chase Doggett, directed by Tyler Struble and produced by Una Bharat. The piece was inspired by the feeling of when one spirals into a depression and explores TV escapism in real-time.

Jess Kantorowitz, Amazouu, Grace McLaughlin and Arielle Roberts performed "TEETH," book and lyrics by India Kotis, music and lyrics by Yazmeen Mayes and directed by Des'ree Brown. In this musical, Amazouu, Jess and Grace are in the waiting room of Dr. Sharp, a witch-doctor dentist. They are there both to heal their ills and to become witch-dentists themselves. The piece was produced by Camille Simone Thomas.

The evening also featured musical interludes called "Germ Olympics," written and performed by composer Yazmeen Mayes and directed by '20 Nationals alum Miranda Cornell.

During the week, special guests who spoke to the group included Genevieve Angelson, Sherri Eden Barber*, Sammi Cannold, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Jesse Eisenberg, Meghan Finn, Dave Harris*, J Holtham, Russell G. Jones, Hansol Jung, Avi Lipski, Elaine Grogan Luttrull, Victor Malana Maog, Jared Mezzocchi, Portia, Harrison David Rivers*, Colette Robert*, Nigel Semaj, Jonathan Marc Sherman and Rachel Sussman. (*indicates Nationals alum)

Alum of The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals are everywhere in the entertainment industry, on and off Broadway, in television and film, in the leadership of theaters here and abroad. Past participants include playwrights Bekah Brunstetter, Gracie Gardner, Ken Greller, Dave Harris, Gethsemane Herron, Laura Jacqmin, Josh Koenigsberg, Mike Lew, Mara Nelson-Greenberg, Liliana Padilla, Eliana Pipes, Andrew Rincón, Harrison David Rivers, Korde Arrington Tuttle and Celine Song; actors Pico Alexander, Satya Babha, Alice Kremelberg, Elizabeth Lail, Naomi Lorrain, Tedra Millan, Bobby Moreno, Ebonee Noel, Coral Peña, Zoe Perry, Will Rogers, Brandon Scott, Chris Smith, Chelsea Spack, Haskiri Velazquez and Natalie Walker; producers Shariffa Ali, Kelcie Beene, Hope Chavez and Carly Hugo; and directors Lyndsay Burch, James Dacre, Taylor Reynolds, Colette Robert, Laura Savia and James Dacre.

The staff producers for The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals are Coleman Ray Clark, Madelyn Paquette and Kelcie Beene. The 24 Hour Plays artistic director is Mark Armstrong.