New School of Drama Partners with The 24 Hour Company for 'NATIONALS' Intensive This Weekend

The 24 Hour Company (producers of The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway and around the world, as well as The 24 Hour Musicals) and their longtime collaborator The New School College of Performing Arts, School of Drama will present The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals in New York City this summer.

For the fourth time, The Nationals brings together theater's most promising young talent-six writers, six directors, six producers, and 24 actors-for two days of intensive workshops after which the group will create their own, original 24 Hour Plays in a Manhattan theater.

"The Nationals present a great opportunity for young artists to meet their peers and begin building the relationships that will serve them throughout their careers," says founding producer Tina Fallon, who created The 24 Hour Plays in 1995. "We are seeking the very best of the next generation of theater artists - and we will arm them with what they need to find their way in this business-which is to say, each other."

The 2015 Nationals company, under the leadership of artistic producer Patti Anne Miller, includes actors Bonnie Antosh, Victor Cervantes Jr., Bianca Crudo, Ivy Elwell, Jedidiah Franklin, Txai Frota, Michael Gregory, Sophie Hassett, Erica Hernandez, Colin Hinckley, Michael Labbadia, Alice Marcondes, Andrew Manning, Laura McCarthy, Lauren Imrie Mui, Ebonee Noel, Coral Pena, Andrew Raia, Tessa Slovis, Evan William Smith, Maddie Sykes, Alli Trussel, Haskiri Arlene Velazquez and Steven Wody; directors Abigail Barr, Leah Faye Caddigan, Kate Moore Heany, Elena Levenson, Ivey Lowe and Michele O'Brien; playwrights Natyna Beane, Margot Connelly, Grace Gardner, Charlie O'Leary, Korde Tuttle and Piper Werle; and producers Hope Chavez, Aislinn Frantz, Katie Langham and Karin Nilo.

"The New School for Drama and The 24 Hour Company share an abiding belief in the power of intelligent collaboration to develop transformative new voices for the theater, whether they be playwrights, actors, directors or producers," said Pippin Parker, Dean of the School of Drama at The New School College of Performing Arts. "That's why is no accident that so many New School alumni are also alumni of 24 Hour Plays-and it's why we're excited and proud to partner again this summer for The Nationals."

Young actors, writers, directors and producers from around the country applied for a chance to be part of a series of intensive workshops, panel discussions, and finally a production of The 24 Hour Plays. Workshops include team-building exercises and panel discussions with artists including Kristoffer Diaz, Austin Pendleton, Leigh Silverman, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Joel Marsh Garland, Jonathan Silverstein, Tam Mutu and many others.

"It was a thrill for these young artists to perform together," Fallon notes, "but more thrilling is the fact that years later, our alumni have continued to collaborate and succeed."

Alumni of the program include playwrights Eric Dufault, Bekah Brunstetter, Mike Lew and Laura Jacqmin; actors Zoe Perry, Brandon Scott, Chris Smith, Satya Babha, Will Rogers and Bobby Moreno; producers Carly Hugo, Kelcie Beene and Rachel Helson; and directors James Dacre, Laura Savia and Colette Robert.

IF YOU GO:

THE 24 HOUR PLAYS: NATIONALS AT THE NEW SCHOOL FOR DRAMA

Workshops August 7 & 8, 2015

Performance August 10, 8pm (open to the public - limited seating - with a reservation at info@24hourplays.com.

The New School for Drama, 151 Bank Street, New York City

Pictured: The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals Panel: Austin Pendleton, Kristoffer Diaz, Leigh Silverman, Tam Mutu and Jonathan Silverstein. Photo via Facebook.