About The 24 hour plays
The 24 Hour Plays® (est. 1995, Mark Armstrong, artistic director) bring together creative communities to produce plays and musicals written, rehearsed and performed in 24 hours. Through our radically-present approach to theater, we make work that responds immediately to the world around us, builds communities and generates new artistic partnerships. Our events include The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway and The 24 Hour Musicals, as well as productions from London to Los Angeles, Dublin to Minneapolis, Finland to Mexico and more. Since March 2020, The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues have generated 600 new free-to-view theater pieces featuring over 1000 artists that have been viewed millions of times and are now archived in the Library of Congress.
Each summer, we bring together early-career actors, directors, playwrights, producers and composers for a free professional intensive culminating in their own production of The 24 Hour Plays in an off-Broadway theater. Over eleven years, The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals have introduced audiences and collaborators to a generation of artists changing the game in theater, television and film. The 24 Hour Plays are an enduring New York City institution, while licensed affiliates and partners produce The 24 Hour Plays and Musicals in theaters and schools worldwide, impacting everyone from celebrities to students.
Shows & Events
The 24 Hour Plays
On Broadway
Six writers, six directors and 24 actors from stage and screen come together to create six brand new plays in only 24 hours.
The 24 Hour Plays
Musicals
Four composers, four book writers, four directors and 20 actors create four brand new musicals in only 24 hours!
The 24 Hour Plays
Nationals
Each summer, we partner with Pace University to bring together the best early-career actors, directors, playwrights and producers for an intensive professional experience that culminates in their own production of The 24 Hour Plays.
The 24 Hour Plays
Around the World
Affiliates from professional theaters, colleges, and just about everywhere in between come together for the best 24 hours of the year.
The 24 Hour Plays
Viral Monologues
New monologues written, rehearsed and recorded in 24 hours!
History
The 24 Hour Plays were created by Tina Fallon on the Lower East Side of New York in 1995 around a simple, but powerful vision: that extraordinary artists coming together with a little bit of time, no money and an empty theater on a Monday night had everything they needed to create a singular evening of theater — each other.
Since that first theatrical experiment at Teatro LATEA, we’ve produced The 24 Hour Plays and The 24 Hour Musicals on and off Broadway and in professional theaters all around the world, and licensed our model to hundreds of high schools and colleges for their own productions.Â
Production History
The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway
The 24 Hour Musicals
The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals
The 24 Hour Plays Around the world