The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals is a free professional intensive for early-career theater artists. The annual program includes workshops, master classes, panel discussions, career development, community building and more, culminating in a cohort production of The 24 Hour Plays Off-Broadway.

Nationals began in 2007 and has gone on to serve over 500 actors, directors, playwrights, producers, composers, designers and stage managers. In 2023, we began a partnership with Pace University that continues today. Alumni 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. 

The 24 Hour Plays selects its Nationals participants through an open application process. Eligible participants are over 18 and no more than seven years out of high school OR four years out of undergraduate or equivalent study.

Please check out our application page for more information on the program. If you have additional questions, email nationals@24hourplays.com.

Nationals Alumni

Past participants include playwrights Bekah Brunstetter, Gracie Gardner, Ken Greller, Dave Harris, Gethsemane Herron-Coward, Laura Jacqmin, Josh Koenigsberg, Mike Lew, Mara Nelson-Greenberg, Liliana Padilla, Eliana Pipes, Andrew Rincón, Harrison David Rivers and Celine Song; actors Tessa Albertson, 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, Abigail Jean-Baptiste, Kelcie Beene, Hope Chavez, Carly Hugo, Madelyn Paquette and Patrick Anthony Surillo; and directors Jake Beckhard, Lyndsay Burch, Miranda Cornell, James Dacre, Ryan Dobrin, Taylor Reynolds, Colette Robert, Laura Savia and James Dacre.

Teachers and Panelists

Previous Nationals have featured classes and panel discussions with Annie Baker, Jocelyn Bioh, Renee Blinkwolt, Michael Chernus, Claire Danes, Kristoffer Diaz, dots, Maria Dizzia, Timothy Douglas, Rachel Dratch, Jesse Eisenberg, Joel Marsh Garland, J. Holtham, Lucas Hnath, Russell G. Jones, Julia Jordan, Thomas Kail, Karen Kohlhaas, Warren Leight, David Lindsay-Abaire, Aasif Mandvi, Victor Malana Maog, Michael Mitnick, Lou Moreno, Bruce Norris, Denis O’Hare, A. Rey Pamatmat, Austin Pendleton, Hubert Point-Du Jour, Portia, Max Posner, Adam Rapp, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Christopher Shinn, Leigh Silverman, Rachel Sussman, Liesl Tommy and many other stage and screen professionals.