{"id":66092,"date":"2025-12-09T21:13:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T21:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/66092\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T21:13:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T21:13:07","slug":"the-24-hour-plays-brings-high-wire-magic-to-brooklyn-for-the-first-time-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/66092\/","title":{"rendered":"The 24 Hour Plays brings high-wire magic to Brooklyn for the first time \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a quarter-century, The 24 Hour Plays<\/a> have challenged theater-makers to attempt the impossible: write, rehearse and perform six brand-new plays in a single day. What began as an experiment in 1995 has become a beloved institution, a rite of passage for performers, and an annual gala that draws talent from theater, film, television, comedy and music.<\/p>\n

But this year marks a first \u2014 the flagship fall event is moving across the river. After 24 editions in Manhattan, the 25th Annual 24 Hour Plays will take place at The Space at Irondale in Fort Greene on Dec. 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same event \u2014 the same 24 Hour Plays people know and love \u2014 but in Brooklyn,\u201d Artistic Director Mark Armstrong told Brooklyn Paper.
\n\"TheMark Armstrong, the artistic director of this iteration of The 24 Hour Plays, has previously been involved as a writer.Photo courtesy of The 24 Hour Plays\n<\/p>\n

For Brooklyn audiences unfamiliar with the adrenaline-fueled tradition, Armstrong offered a simple explanation: \u201cThese are plays that are written, rehearsed and performed in 24 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sentence describes a whirlwind process that begins the night before, when six writers, six directors and 24 actors meet for the first time. After introductions, the writers dive into an overnight writing session. Scripts are due at 6 a.m., Armstrong said, but \u201cmore often than not, you have to gently let people know that it\u2019s time to wrap it up because printing and copying have to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the morning, actors gather for breakfast and the highly anticipated casting reveal. Then they scatter into six rehearsal rooms across Irondale and nearby studios, shaping worlds that did not exist before sunrise. Armstrong notes that choices must be made quickly as the company cycles through line memorization, costume and prop requests, tech, and finally a communal dinner before the curtain rises.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting and stressful and vulnerable,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cThese artists can just focus on this thing they\u2019ve agreed to do, which is rehearse and memorize on stage and completely perform off book in front of a big audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

A community-building pressure cooker\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why do so many performers \u2014 famous and emerging alike \u2014 line up for such a daunting challenge?\n<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople beg to do this,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cReally, really famous people because a friend of theirs has told them, \u2018Oh, I did this thing and it was so much fun.\u2019\u201d\n<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s performers include Elaine Hendrix (\u201cThe Parent Trap\u201d), Ralph Macchio (\u201cThe Karate Kid\u201d), Kirsten Vangsness (\u201cCriminal Minds\u201d), Havana Rose Liu (\u201cBottoms\u201d) and Jaboukie Young-White (\u201cThe Daily Show\u201d).<\/p>\n

Returning artists include Olli Haaskivi (\u201cOppenheimer\u201d) and Morgan Siobhan Green (\u201cHadestown\u201d), both veterans who said the event offers creative freedom rarely found in their day-to-day work.<\/p>\n

\"TheOlli Haaskivi, who previously starred in films like \u201cOppenheimer,\u201d is a repeat player who says he\u2019s enjoyed every minute.Photo courtesy of The 24 Hour Plays<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an actor, you are often cast in the most logical way that you can be cast,\u201d Haaskivi told Brooklyn Paper. \u201cThere\u2019s something about the 24 Hour Plays where anything can happen; it feels high pressure because it has to happen very quickly, but it\u2019s also incredibly low pressure because it\u2019s just this one time ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of his most vivid memories comes from performing at the Los Angeles edition. After he and fellow actor Zo\u00eb Chao exited the stage following a grueling day, \u201cShe and I hugged silently off stage and did not let each other go, laughing so hard for several minutes,\u201d he recalled. \u201cIt was just like the release of all this stress and exhaustion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haaskivi has also formed lasting artistic relationships through the event \u2014 most notably with Jesse Eisenberg, who has written roles specifically for him.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI said I wanted to be part of a heist, and [Eisenberg] wrote me a heist,\u201d he laughed.\n<\/p>\n

Green first came to the event through the equally chaotic 24 Hour Musicals, both writing and performing.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThere really is a loop of emotions in the day,\u201d she said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have time to think too much.\u201d That urgency, she said, uncovers artistic bravery that mainstream theater sometimes suppresses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing I love about the 24 Hour Plays,\u201d Green said, \u201cit really can make a place where something you didn\u2019t really have in you is born.\u201d
\n\"TheMorgan Siobhan Green had been involved in both the event\u2019s plays and musical versions, serving in multiple capacities.Photo courtesy of The 24 Hour Plays\n<\/p>\n

As a performer, she recalled receiving a script with a serious solo without yet having heard the melody. Panic set in as noon approached with no demo in sight. But when the music finally began at the performance, \u201cI was like, here we go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo this day, that was probably one of the best performances I\u2019ve ever done because I just couldn\u2019t think about it,\u201d Green continued.\n<\/p>\n

As a writer, she partnered with Pulitzer Prize winner Michael R. Jackson, writer of Broadway\u2019s \u201cA Strange Loop,\u201d and laughed about the underestimation of time in the writers\u2019 room.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had to tell us, you guys have to go,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

Why Brooklyn, and why now?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Armstrong, a Brooklynite of more than 20 years, said the decision to bring the gala to Irondale felt natural.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Brooklyn,\u201d he said. \u201cThe theater community and the NYC community are such a presence there already.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

And for every Manhattanite who thinks Fort Greene is too far, Armstrong added, \u201cThere will be another person who will say, whoa, that\u2019s even closer to my house.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The new venue also gives the night a festive spirit, taking place just before the holidays. Armstrong jokingly dubbed the night \u201cHoliday in Brooklyn\u201d \u2014 a tagline some mistakenly assumed meant a reinvention.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just trying to say, hey, it\u2019s Dec. 12, Happy Holidays, everyone. This is our regular show, only it\u2019s in this other borough now,\u201d Armstrong laughed.\n<\/p>\n

With just three full-time staff members and a mission centered on creative collaboration, The 24 Hour Plays operates as both a theater company and a service organization, helping artists make meaningful new connections under wild circumstances.<\/p>\n

And regardless of venue, the performances remain a true one-night-only act.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the first day of rehearsal, opening night and closing night \u2014 all in the same day,\u201d Armstrong said.\n<\/p>\n

For more information about The 24 Hour Plays and tickets to the 25th Annual event on Dec. 12 at The Space at Irondale in Fort Greene, visit 24hourplays.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a quarter-century, The 24 Hour Plays have challenged theater-makers to attempt the impossible: write, rehearse and perform…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[34488,2633,34489,8131,98,3462,100,99,34490,34491,2635,34492,9,24,27871,12,370,63,34493,5281,34494,34495],"class_list":["post-66092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-24-hour-plays","tag-actors","tag-arts-feature","tag-behind-the-scenes","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-culture","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-theater","tag-creative-process","tag-directors","tag-local-arts-events","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-theater","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-overnight-theater","tag-performing-arts","tag-playwrights","tag-theater-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}