NEW YORK CITY: The 24 Hour Plays has announced the Viral Monologues series, which will feature 20 monologues. From 6pm EST until midnight on March 17, the monologues will be posted every 15 minutes here.
“We’re the 24 Hour Plays and we go to work,” said artistic director Mark Armstrong in a statement. “We’ve always made work about the most difficult moments in our lives, from 9/11 to Hurricane Sandy to the 2016 election. After my friend Howard Sherman called me with a perfect idea, we figured out how to do just that now without physically getting people together. It’s a privilege to work with these incredible talents to capture this moment and help give our friends around the world something that only the arts can provide.”
On March 16 at 6pm, 20 actors met virtually to introduce themselves to a group of 20 writers. By 7pm, writers and actors were paired, and writers got to work on crafting new monologues especially for their assigned actors. Actors received their monologues at 9am on March 17. The videos will begin to be released to the world at 6pm, completing the 24-hour cycle.
The performers include David Cross, Richard Kind, Rachel Dratch, Bobby Moreno, Amy Hargreaves, Andre Royo, Joel Marsh Garland, Denis O’Hare, Timothy Douglas, Will Swenson, Hugh Dancy, Russell G. Jones, Tavi Gevinson, Marin Ireland, Isabelle Fuhrman, Katherine McNamara, Ashlie Atkinson, Haskiri Velasquez, Patrick Wilson, and Dagmara Domińczyk.
The original monologues were written by David Lindsay-Abaire, Hilary Bettis, Hansol Jung, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Christopher Oscar Peña, Howard Sherman, Jesse Eisenberg, Simon Rich, Sam Chanse, Kathleen Hale, Jenny Rachel Weiner, Lily Padilla, Harrison David Rivers, Ken Greller, Rachel Axler, Lily Houghton, Charlie O’Leary, and Monique Moses.
Since 1995, the 24 Hour Plays have brought together artists to create work on Broadway, Off Broadway, and around the world. Some part participants have include Jennifer Aniston, Laverne Cox, Billy Crudup, David Cross, Rosario Dawson, Daveed Diggs, Phylicia Rashad, Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, Marisa Tomei, and many more. Each summer, the 24 Hour Plays: Nationals partner with the New School for Drama to provide a free professional intensive for young actors, directors, playwrights, and producers.
