Adam Bock, Rachel Dratch and More Set for THE 24 HOUR PLAYS: NATIONALS Panels, Beg. Tonight

Actors, writers and directors know that to succeed in theater, it is necessary to master the art of survival. Tonight, August 7, and August 8 and 10, the 24 Hour Company in partnership with The New School for Drama will explore artistic survival in its many forms, with two panel discussions, as well as the undertaking of one of theater's greatest challenges, The 24 Hour Plays.

The 24 Hour Plays' National Company-a group six writers, six directors, six producers, and 24 actors drawn from high schools and colleges across the United States-will write, direct and perform six original plays in the span of 24 hours. The buzzer rings (and the curtain rises at the Atlantic Theater) on August 10 at 8 P.M.

Preceding the Company's feats of survival, the group will attend a series of workshops on topics including monologues and team-building. In addition, the Company will attend two panel discussions (August 7 and 8), which are open to the public, that explore "How to Survive as an Artist," with panelists including former Saturday Night Live cast member Rachel Dratch, Law & Order's Diane Neal, and New York Timestheater critic Jason Zinoman. See below for even details.

Founded in 2007, The 24 Hour Plays, founded by Tina Fallon, have provided a formative theater experience for notable young artists, including Bekah Brunstetter (playwright, Be a Good Little Widow, Oohrah!), Chris Smith (actor, CBS's We Are Men with Tony Shaloub and Jerry O'Connell), Brandon Scott (actor, Grey's Anatomy, BET's What Would Dylan Do with Kelly Rowland), and James Dacre(director, Olivier Award-winning production of Katori Hall's The Mountaintop). In addition, of the writers and directors chosen for the 2010 Sundance Theater Labs, three of the twelve - that's 25% of all artists -- came through the 2007 program.

The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals
Panels at The New School for Drama, 151 Bank Street
Performance at The Atlantic Theater, 336 West 20th Street NYC

Panel Discussions: How to Survive as an Artist:

Wednesday August 7, 12:30pm
Adam Bock (playwright, The Receptionist, The Drunken City, A Small Fire)
Rachel Dratch (schedule permitting - actor, SNL, currently in Love's Labour's Lost)
Jason Zinoman (Theater critic, The New York Times)
Ashlie Atkinson (actress, The Bridge Project, Fat Pig, Us & Them)
Diane Neal (actress, Law & Order)

Thursday, August 8, 4pm
Craig "muMs" Grant (actor, Oz, Lab company member)
Lucy Thurber (playwright, Scarcity, Where We're Born)
Lou Moreno (Artistic Director, Intar)
Lindsay Bowen (entertainment lawyer)
Thomas Kail (director, In the Heights)

Performances: The 24 Hour Plays
Saturday, August 10th, 8pm
The Atlantic's Linda Gross Theater
336 West 20th Street NYC

Limited Tickets available to panels and performances available at 24HourPlaysNationals@gmail.com.

Founded by Tina Fallon, The 24 Hour Company is a group of artists and producers that have mounted over 500 short plays since 1995--all written, cast, rehearsed and performed in a single day. The New York Times calls them "freshly minted works of art". Paper Magazine wrote "the quality of the plays is remarkable," and the Village Voice calls the process "theatricality as life, as subversion, even survival." The 24 Hour Plays have performed for sold-out houses at the in New York, Chicago, Toronto, Los Angeles, London, Athens, Bonn and Dublin. Participants have included diverse talents from all levels- from Tony, Oscar and Pulitzer Prize winners to emerging talent and high school students. Their signature events include The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway, The 24 Hour Musicals, and The 24 Hour Plays Gala for the Old Vic, which have helped to raise millions of dollars to support theater education in cities around the world. Visit www.24hourplays.com for more information.

The New School for Drama provides intensive training in all aspects of the craft of acting, playwriting, and directing, and includes some of the finest theater professionals in the United States. Established in 1994, The New School for Drama offers MFAs in Acting, Directing and Playwriting, and the new BFA in Dramatic Arts. These programs are part of The New School's rich tradition of leadership in theater, beginning with Erwin Piscator's 1940 Dramatic Workshop, which produced actors including Marlon Brando, Tony Curits, Elaine Strich, and others. Learn more at www.newschool.edu/drama.

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