Staff
blanks
Bio
Mark Armstrong (he/him) is a Brooklyn-based theater director and the Artistic Director of The 24 Hour Plays. His production of Eric Bogosian’s Drinking in America featuring Andre Royo (NYT Critic’s Pick) enjoyed an extended run at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre and a live audio capture was released as an Audible audio play. Highlights with The 24 Hour Plays include annual productions of The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway, The 24 Hour Musicals, The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues (which engaged millions of viewers worldwide beginning March 2020) + partner productions across the US. As a director, his collaborators include Emily Mann (Execution of Justice, Playhouse Creatures + NYU Tisch mainstage), Christopher Shinn (Falling Away, Ensemble Studio Theatre; The Coming World; Williamstown), Dan O’Brien (From Kandahar to Canada, EST; The Angel in the Trees, Production Company) and many others. As Director of New Work for Keen Company, he created the Keen Playwrights Lab for mid-career playwrights and directed Old Folks by Max Posner and 30 Million by Jason Kim and Max Vernon. Recently, he developed and directed The Accident with drummer Kid Millions at Roulette. Assistant professor (part-time), The New School for Drama; proud member SDC and UAW 7902; alum Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab and Williamstown Theater Festival Directing Corp.
blanks
Bio
Serena Berman (she/her) is a writer, performer, and producer from LA based in NYC. A proud alum of The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, she is thrilled to be running the program with Jake Beckhard. Serena and Jake were Co-Directors of Performance at Chinatown Soup, where they produced theater and organized artist-led political activism. As a writer, her work has been developed with Ars Nova, Westport Country Playhouse, Williamstown Theater Festival, The Hearth, Less Than Rent, and more. She was a member of Ars Nova’s Play Group, a finalist for the Princess Grace Award, a semifinalist for the Page 73 Playwriting Fellowship, and an honorable mention for The Relentless Award. She is repped by Writ Large Management for her screenwriting. As an actor, she’s been working professionally since she was a toddler. Favorite credits include “Set it Up” (Netflix), Diaspora (NY Premiere), Murder at the Gates (Steven Sater), “Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales” (ABC), and “W.I.T.C.H.” (Disney). BFA in Drama (NYU Tisch). Check her out in all her multi-hyphenate weirdness at www.serenaberman.com
blanks
Bio
Joe Westermann (he/him) is a Fort Worth–raised, NYC-based teaching artist who recently earned his BFA in Dramatic Arts and MA in Arts Management and Entrepreneurship from The New School for Performing Arts. He is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Spotlight Cast & Crew, a tuition-free summer theatre program empowering Fort Worth–area students in grades 8–12 to direct, design, and perform works of musical theatre. Joe also created Creative Pathways, a curriculum for high school students that equips them with the tools and skills to pursue careers as teaching artists — a course that has been featured at Lincoln Center and presented at their annual Summer Forum.
Board of Directors
Shari Soofian, PresidentJulie Mercer, SecretaryMark ArmstrongLindsay W. BowenChristy Gressmanchristopher oscar peñaBeth WishnieMichael SchlossSekka Scher
COMMUNITY
Production Management: Michael Alifanz, Sarah Ford, Rachel Oshrin, Patrick Anthony Surillo
Education and Outreach Ambassador: Anna Strout
The 24 Hour Plays Nationals institutional partner: Sands College of the Performing Arts at Pace University (Jennifer Holmes, Executive Dean)
Press Rep: Print Shop PR, Liz Lombardi
Graphics and Marketing: Incontrera Consulting