Staff

Mark Armstrong
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.

Madelyn Paquette
blanks
Bio
Madelyn Paquette (she/her/hers) is a creative producer and a proud alum of The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals. She is the Managing Producer at Moxie Arts NY, and the co-host of Talk This: It’s Dangerous to Podcast Alone.
Ryan Duncan Ayala
blanks
Bio

Ryan Duncan-Ayala is a Latine Producer and theatre maker based in Brooklyn and from Laredo, TX. He aims to foster new work development and create spaces and access for minoritized communities. They were the recipient of the 2019 Kennedy Center/LORT ASPIRE Arts Leadership Award and has previously worked with Colt Coeur, National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT), The O’Neill, Syracuse Stage. Ryan is also the Founder/Lead Producer of El Centro Productions and has most recently worked on ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ at New York Theatre Workshop (CM) and the ‘RENT 25th Annual Farewell Tour’ (ACM/CSM). Off Broadway: ¡Americano! The Musical @ryanduncanayala

Serena Berman
blanks
Bio

Serena Berman (she/her) is a writer, performer, and producer from LA based in NYC. She is a proud Nationals alum and has been working with The 24 Hour Plays since 2016. She was co-Director of Performance at Chinatown Soup with Jake Beckhard, 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 (2019-2021), a finalist for the Princess Grace Award (2021), and a semifinalist for the Page 73 Playwriting Fellowship (2020). She is repped by Writ Large Management for film/TV. 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

Jake Beckhard
blanks
Bio

Jake Beckhard is a creative producer, freelance director and dramaturg, and proud alum of The 24 Hour Plays Nationals. He is the Operations Co-Chair of the Fled Collective and the former Director of Performance at Chinatown Soup. He loves to help people find their people.

Board of Directors

soofian
blanks
Bio
Shari Soofian, President (she/her/hers) loves bringing people together. She is thrilled to be working with this incredible group of people to bring creative communities together and deliver time-limited theater to people across the world wherever they may be. In addition to being President of 24HP, Shari is the Director of Sales Strategy and Operations at LinkedIn, driven by their mission to help to connect professionals.
holtham
blanks
Bio
J. Holtham (he/him/his) has been involved with television productions of PITCH (Fox), MARVEL’S CLOAK & DAGGER (Freeform), MARVEL’S JESSICA JONES (Netflix), SUPERGIRL (CW), THE HANDMAIDS TALE (HULU). He has also been a part of Ensemble Studio Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Bespoke Plays, Ojai Playwrights Conference (Resident Dramaturg). He has also appeared in American Theatre, Thrillist, Slate, Parabasis. He is a proud product of public education.
mercer
blanks
Bio
Julie L. Mercer, Secretary (she/hers/her) works as Corporate Counsel for a large commercial real estate company, mom of a toddler, avid reader and theatergoer, and excited to be on The 24 Hour Plays Board as we look to ensure the organization continues to grow and thrive.
armstrong
blanks
Bio
Mark Armstrong (he/him) is the Artistic Director of The 24 Hour Plays. Highlights from his tenure include annual productions of The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway, the Broadway and Los Angeles debuts of The 24 Hour Musicals, many partner events in the US and abroad, the growth of The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals and The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues, which have produced over 500 new theater pieces that have engaged millions of viewers around the world since March 2020. As a director, his collaborators include Emily Mann, Christopher Shinn, Dan O’Brien and many more. Instructor, The New School for Drama.
Bowen
blanks
Bio
Lindsay Bowen is the VP of podcasts and entertainment content partnerships and head of podcast business affairs at Stitcher/Pandora/Sirius XM and the co-founder of The 24 Hour Company.
SEKKA SCHER
blanks
Bio

Sekka Scher is a talent manager and the Co-founder of Ellipsis Entertainment. She has launched and cultivated the careers of multiple Oscar and Emmy winners/nominees, a few of whom have participated in the 24 Hour plays including Michael K. Williams and Craig muMs Grant. Prior to becoming a manager, Sekka worked for celebrated filmmakers Merchant/Ivory, then as an agent before starting her own management company in 1999.  In 1995 Sekka was part of the first group of women permitted to fight in the New York Daily News Golden Gloves, where she won silver gloves in a nationally televised fight against a Rikers Island prison guard at Madison Square Garden.  Sekka is also on the board of trustees at Bennington College where she launched the Spencer Cox ’90 Field Work Term Fellowship for Public Action.  A fourth generation New Yorker, Sekka lives in NYC with her husband, lawyer Steven Williams, and daughter Sydney.

2
blanks
Bio
Jerome Joseph Gentes (he/him/his) is a playwright, producer and executive director of TigerBear Productions, Jerome is a two-spirit Standing Rock Lakota and Fort Belknap A’aninin (Gros Ventre). He makes, builds, and presents stories through art, connectivity, and community. In 2014, he co-founded the Musical Cafe Showcase Series, a Berkeley, CA-based performance series. He co-produced Sheherezade’s Last Tales(2015 TBA Award for Outstanding Anthology) and PCSF PlayOffs (2016 TBA Finalist for Outstanding Anthology), and was a founding member of the Same Boat Theatre Collective. He works in software design and is on the boards of PlayGround SF and The 24 Hour Plays. Find out more about him and his company at tigerbearproductions.com.
Wilson 1
blanks
Bio
Emmanuel Wilson is a playwright, producer, and lifelong resident of New York City. Emmanuel serves as the current Managing Director of The Dramatists Guild after serving as Director of Membership. At age 18, Emmanuel founded the Blue Rose Stage Company and served as Artistic Director for 6 years. During his time at TADA! Youth Theater, he assisted in organizational and season planning, and produced a playwriting contest and reading series for teens. In 2003, he was selected as a New Generations Future Leader by Theater Communications Group.
Sara Lamm
blanks
Bio
Sara Lamm (she/her/hers) once participated in a 10-night-straight run of The 24 Hour plays at legendary performance space PS122 and lived to tell the tale… she is currently a documentary filmmaker and mindfulness facilitator whose work focuses on community, creativity, and social change. Her films have been seen on PBS and in theaters, universities, and maternal health organizations worldwide. She also serves on the Earthjustice Council and on the board of The Church of Stop Shopping.
Schloss
blanks
Bio

Michael Schloss lives in Muttontown, New York, a wonderful village on Long Island that despite its strangely bucolic name is only 25 miles from NYC.  He has raised his two young adult sons there with his wife, Julie. He is actively involved in local government currently serving as a member of the village board of trustees.His involvement with the 24 Hour Plays has been constant over the past 15+ years helping produce programs and other materials under the same deadline and spirit of the plays. Ensuring that the printed pieces always look their best and arrive at the theater just in time always presents an event day challenge for his team.He studied Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University of Southern California and still finds himself often in Los Angeles where his company LDI Connect has a west coast office and he is involved in numerous charitable organizations affiliated with USC.Michael has worked in the digital imaging and office technology industry for over 30 years and is an expert in the field of on demand print technologies and the constantly evolving marketing communication industry.
He enjoys his active participation in numerous organizations advancing the performing arts and education. Michael is an avid skier, die hard New York Mets fan, and enjoys traveling as much as his schedule permits.

Wishnie
blanks
Bio

Beth Wishnie is a theatre producer. On Broadway she co-produced Once On This Island (Tony Award), and Lifespan of A Fact with Daniel Radcliffe. Off-Broadway, she co-produced the award-winning Accidentally Brave. She was the producing director of Ovation award winning
The Hidden Theater Company in Los Angeles. During the Pandemic, Beth produced Together Apart, a virtual piece consisting of 10 original mini-musicals all written, composed and directed by Brown University Alumni to raise money for The Actors Fund. Before embarking on a
theatre career, she worked in Original Programming at HBO.

Additional sUPPORT

 

$

Benefit Manager: Laura Vogel

$

Education and Outreach Ambassador: Anna Strout

Produce

Your

Own