Our Team

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.

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 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.

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.