THE 24 HOUR PLAYS: VIRAL MONOLOGUES Releases New Edition In Partnership With Arizona Theatre Company

Last night, The 24 Hour Plays partnered with Arizona Theatre Company on an exciting edition of The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues, available to watch now through July 18th 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 worked together to write, rehearse, perform and produce 14 new pieces in just 24 hours.

Fifteen Arizona theatre companies were asked to identify artists and writers to participate in the project, and 12 participated 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 evening began with "We Are All Of Us/Shut Up Nadine," written by Paul Michael Thomson and performed by Veronika Duerr.

Shonda Royall starred in "Battle Royall," written by Marvin González De León.

Louis Farber performed Mark Schultz's "Smokey."

Brenda Jean Foley performed "Juice," written by Monica Bauer.

Alejandra Luna brought Elaine Romero's "Oyster" to life.

Jen Gantwerker performed "Limbo," written by Milta Ortiz.

Jasmine Roth played a "Green Thumb In Isolation Seeking Someone To Grow With" in a piece by Shelby & Brian Maticic.

Carley Elizabeth Preston starred in "One of Yours for One of Mine," written by Esther Almazán.

Damon Bolling performed "Say Goodbye To Jammie Jam Rod," written by Angelica Howland.

Chanel Bragg performed christopher oscar peña's "to 2020 on the eve of our 30th birthday."

Seth Tucker starred in "When Our Eyes Meet," written by John Perovich.

China Young performed "5 Seconds," a piece by Maybe Stewart.

Gabriella De Brequet showed off her musical talents in "The Fezziwig Promise," which featured a script and lyrics by Sean Daniels, with music, orchestrations, and additional lyrics by Jesse Sanchez.

Veronica Conran performed "El Encuentro," written by Susanna Velarde Covarrubias.

"I think the true legacy of the 24 Hour Plays will be these Viral Monologues - that in a truly dark time for our industry, so many artists turned to this organization as a way to continue to create, connect and empathize," said Arizona Theatre Company's artistic director Sean Daniels. "And the fact that Mark returned to highlight AZ artists - and people got to see the truly amazing talent here - it became a real gift from Mark and the 24 Hour Team to our state."

"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 it's been a dream of mine to add Arizona's rich theater community to our family. After last night's spectacular 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 7 PM ET, actors shared brief orientation-style videos to allow the writers to get to know them better. By 8 PM ET, writers and actors were paired, and writers got to work on crafting new monologues especially for their assigned actors. Actors received their monologues on July 14th at 10 AM ET, filmed their performances throughout the day, and at 7 PM ET their videos began 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.