THE 24 HOUR PLAYS: VIRAL MONOLOGUES Partners With Arizona Theatre Company For All-New Edition

The 24 Hour Plays announced today that they will partner with Arizona Theatre Company on an exciting edition of The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues, available July 14th on IGTV @24hourplays, on The 24 Hour Plays' Facebook and YouTube channels, and at https://24hourplays.com/viral-monologues/. A group of Arizona's finest actors and writers will work together to write, rehearse, perform and produce 14 new pieces in just 24 hours. Beginning at a special time - 7 PM ET/4 PM PT -, the new monologues will be published, one every 15 minutes.

Fifteen Arizona theatre companies were asked to identify artists and writers to participate in the project, and 12 are participating including Arizona Theatre Company, Borderlands Theater, Brelby Theatre Company, The Bridge Initiative, Childsplay, The Rogue Theatre, The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre, Stray Cat Theatre, Teatro Bravo!, United Colours of Arizona Theatre, The University of Arizona and Winding Road Theater Ensemble.

The cast of this special edition includes Damon Bolling, Chanel Bragg, Veronica Conran, Gabriella de Brequet, Veronika Duerr, Louis Farber, Brenda Jean Foley, Jen Gantwerker, Alejandra Luna, Carley Elizabeth Preston, Shonda Royall, Seth Tucker, and China Young. They will perform monologues written by Esther Almazán, Monica Bauer, Susanna Velarde Covarrubias, Sean Daniels, Marvin González De León, Angelica Howland, Shelby & Brian Maticic, Milta Ortiz, John Perovich, Christopher Oscar Peña, Elaine Romero, Jasmine Roth, Mark Schultz, Maybe Stewart and Paul Michael Thompson.

"It's an honor to work with Mark Armstrong and The 24 Hour Plays," said Arizona Theatre Company's artistic director Sean Daniels. "As the pandemic hit, they pivoted quickly to digital and became a beacon of hope that artists would still be able to create and connect with audiences. They deserve every bit of praise they have received during this time."

"To have The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues focus on a single state for the first time shows the quality of artists we have here in Arizona - and Mark is an Arizona State University boy done good. We're glad to be highlighting the artists that started here and have now taken the country by storm."

"Sean Daniels is one of the great artistic leaders of my generation," said Mark Armstrong, artistic director of The 24 Hour Plays. "Arizona Theatre Company was a place where I had formative theatergoing experiences and I'm thrilled that they're getting a forward-thinking reboot under Sean's inspiring vision. The 24 Hour Plays bring together creative communities around the world and not only are we looking forward to hosting Arizona's top writers and actors for an exciting round of Viral Monologues, I'm looking forward to the day I can get on a plane and help bring Arizona artists together live and in person for a production of The 24 Hour Plays with ATC."

Proceeds from this round support Arizona Theatre Company, the official state theatre of Arizona. Now celebrating its 53rd Season, and boasting the largest subscriber base of any performing arts organization in Arizona, the mission of the Arizona Theatre Company is to inspire, engage, and entertain - one moment, one production, and one audience at a time.

"Now more than ever, support for Arizona Theatre Company is essential for our survival and our robust return to live theatre. Help us as we continue to be a leader in the arts in Arizona," Daniels said. "ATC is committed to using all donations raised to help us support our people, our mission and our community."

On July 13th at 6 PM, actors will share brief orientation-style videos to allow the writers to get to know them better. By 7 PM, writers and actors will be paired, and writers will get to work on crafting new monologues especially for their assigned actors. Actors receive their monologues on July 14th at 10 AM, will film their performances throughout the day, and at 6 PM their videos begin to be released to the world, completing the 24-hour cycle. The monologues will be available to view on IGTV and online for four days after their initial airing courtesy of an agreement with Theatre Authority, a nonprofit organization managed by Actors' Equity.

The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues are produced by Coleman Ray Clark and Madelyn Paquette. The artistic director of The 24 Hour Plays is Mark Armstrong.

The 24 Hour Plays are known for their work on Broadway, off-Broadway and around the world. Since 1995, their events have brought together extraordinary artists to create time-limited theater. Past participants include Jennifer Aniston, Laverne Cox, Billy Crudup, David Cross, Rosario Dawson, Daveed Diggs, Peter Dinklage, Rachel Dratch, Jesse Eisenberg, Edie Falco, America Ferrera, Greta Gerwig, Oscar Isaac, John Krasinski, Anthony Mackie, Julianne Moore, Tracy Morgan, Cynthia Nixon, Anna Paquin, Rosie Perez, Phylicia Rashad, Chris Rock, Sam Rockwell, Liev Schreiber, Amanda Seyfried, Michael Shannon, Gabourey Sidibe, Sarah Silverman, Marisa Tomei, Naomi Watts and more!

More information for those who would like to support The 24 Hour Plays or attend a live performance in the future is available at https://24hourplays.com.