THE 24 HOUR PLAYS: VIRAL MONOLOGUES Announces National Queer Theater Edition

National Queer Theater has announced a special edition round of The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues, which they will host in partnership with The 24 Hour Plays and The Dramatists Guild of America to featuring brand-new monologues written, rehearsed and recorded in 24 hours. This round will feature work by their New Visions Fellows. The fellowship supports the work of Black Trans and gender non-conforming artists.

Beginning at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, August 31st, one monologue will be released every 15 minutes on Instagram @nationalqueertheater.

Writers will include Roger Q. Mason and New Visions fellows, Nick Hadikwa Mwaluko (he/they) and Ayla Xuan Chi Sullivan (they/them), finalists Storm Thomas, Chantal Vorobei Thieves (she/her), and Alexander Paris (they/them), and honorable mentions Brei Brandy (they/them), Nay Harris (they/them), Jahquale Mazyck (he/they), Jae W.B. (they/she), Chamari White-Mink (they/them), and Taylor Steele (she/her).

"We are thrilled to work with The 24 Hour Plays and Dramatists Guild of America to uplift and showcase Black trans and gender non-conforming artists and storytellers through our New Visions Fellowship, led by Playwright Roger Q. Mason," says Adam Odsess-Rubin, National Queer Theater Founding Artistic Director. "The New Visions Fellowship is not only a professional opportunity for playwrights, but also a clarion call to the theater industry. We are demanding more representation for trans theater artists, and are grateful to The 24 Hour Plays for offering their platform to our artists."

Beginning at 6:00 PM on Monday evening, the actors shared brief orientation-style videos to allow the writers to get to know them better. By 7 PM, writers and actors were paired, and writers wrote new monologues for their assigned actors. Actors received their monologues on Tuesday morning at 10 AM, will film their performances throughout the day, and at 6 PM their videos begin to be released to the world, completing the 24-hour cycle.