THE 24 HOUR PLAYS: NATIONALS Kicks Off Tonight

The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, now in their tenth year, kicks off their rigorous professional experience for artists 25 and under tonight with their own production of The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues, featuring the 43 program participants and 12 guest writers from previous years of the Nationals program.

The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals 2021 company includes actors Tessa Albertson, Amazouu, Katherine Bahena-Benitez, Jesse Castellanos, Eric J. Cheng, Danté Crichlow, Julia D'Angelo, Katherine Di Lillo, Sophia Drapeau, Pearl Emerson, Blake Fisher, Jess Kantorowitz, Caroline Kinley, Jackie Leon, Amara Leonard, Tatyana Mack, Grace McLaughlin, Arielle Maxinne Roberts, Jasmine Sharma, Jessie Shaw, India Stachyra, Ben Teitelbaum, Mya Wong and Isabel Wynne; directors Sarah Boess, Des'ree Brown, Abbey Joan Burgess, Ariel Urim Chung, Nico Krell and Tyler Struble; playwrights Chase Doggett, India Kotis, Kenjiro Lee, Alex Lin, Ellie Melick and Tristan Raak; producers Una Bharat, Lee Harrison Daniel, Brett Iarrobino, Angelica McEwan, Alison Yueming Qu and Camille Simone Thomas, and composer Yazmeen Mayes.

They'll be joined tonight by Nationals alum writers Abigail Carney, Isabella Dawis, Fiona Gorry-Hines, Jess Honovich, Jane Lindstrom, Chris Murphy, Charlie O'Leary, Phanésia Pharel, Anya Richkind, David Rosenberg, Makaela Shealy-Sachot and Marissa Joyce Stamps.

"Over ten years, The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals have brought together extraordinary young artists to meet their peers, make new work and then head out to change the game in American arts and entertainment," said The 24 Hour Plays artistic director Mark Armstrong. "This year's incredible group has come together virtually to engage and collaborate with one another. We can't wait to share their work with audiences, starting tonight with Viral Monologues and continuing with their own performance of The 24 Hour Plays next week."

The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues Nationals Edition premiere Tuesday, July 20th, with an all new series of unforgettable performances on IGTV @24hourplays and at https://24hourplays.com/viral-monologues/. From 6 PM until 10 PM, new monologues will be published every 15 minutes.

Over the course of a week, The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals company will engage in intensive workshops, panel discussions with industry game-changers, and finally, their own production of The 24 Hour Plays on Tuesday, July 27th - written, rehearsed and performed online in 24 hour. Tickets available now at www.24hourplays.com/nationals.

The Nationals present an opportunity for young artists to meet their peers and build relationships that will serve them throughout their careers. The 24 Hour Plays bring together the best of the next generation of theatermakers and arm them with what they need in order to find their way in this business - one another.

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.

Since March 2020, The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues have generated over 400 new free-to-view theater pieces that have been viewed millions of times. Actors and writers from across the American arts and entertainment industry have come together to write, rehearse, perform and produce new works in just 24 hours. The incredible lineup of luminaries who have written and performed for the Viral Monologues includes Alan Arkin, Wayne Brady, Nicholas Braun, Matthew Broderick, David Cross, Hugh Dancy, Andre De Shields, Daveed Diggs, Dagmara Domínczyk, Rachel Dratch, Minnie Driver, Jesse Eisenberg, Raul Esparza, Marcia Gay Harden, Santino Fontana, Tavi Gevinson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ethan Hawke, William Jackson Harper, Daniel Dae Kim, Richard Kind, Aja Naomi King, David Lindsay-Abaire, Kenneth Lonergan, Vella Lovell, Zosia Mamet, Alex Moffat, Cynthia Nixon, Lynn Nottage, Brittany O'Grady, Larry Owens, Ashley Park, Pedro Pascal, David Hyde Pierce, Danny Pudi, AnnaSophia Robb, Andre Royo, Tony Shalhoub, Michael Shannon, Cobie Smulders, Patrick Wilson, Rita Wilson and many more.

New editions of The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues stream on select Tuesday nights on IGTV @24hourplays, on The 24 Hour Plays' Facebook and YouTube channels, and at https://24hourplays.com/viral-monologues/.

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