About 100 bold artists will convene at Onstage Atlanta to write, direct, and perform eight short plays in the span of 24 hours.  Performance will be Sunday, May 23, 2010, at 8 pm.

It’s bold.  It’s risky.  The mantra of the 24-Hour Plays has always been: This ain’t theatre for crybabies.

Tonight, 16 writers will meet at 10 pm at Onstage Atlanta.  Paired randomly, they will have until dawn to come up with eight 12-minute scripts.  Eight directors will come in at 9 am and cast their plays from sixty headshots submitted by our brave thespians.  Then it’s a marathon day of rehearsing, staging, costuming, and setting tech for an 8:00 pm curtain on Sunday, May 23rd.  The show ends at 10 pm, exactly 24 hours after the writers first convened.

The Atlanta 24-Hour Plays were introduced in ten years ago as a benefit for Synchronicity Performance Group and Plain Sight Productions, produced in conjunction with Horizon Theatre’s New Horizon series.  The event was an immediate success, serving to introduce a legion of rising artists to the Atlanta community, and forging new partnerships and collaborations.  Working Title Playwrights and producer Topher Payne are honored to continue this extraordinary event with the support and encouragement of Synchronicity and Plain Sight.  Our 2009 revival of the series was an unprecedented success for Working Title, and now the excitement continues.

Come play! Join us on Sunday night at Onstage Atlanta in Suburban Plaza, 2597 North Decatur Road, Decatur (next to Big Lots) and see what we’ve cooked up.  The show starts, ready or not, at 8:00 pm on Sunday, May 23rd. Tickets are $15.  Box office and bar will open at 7 pm.  There are no reservations for the event, so get there early!

Sharon Mathis’ one-woman one-act, HE/SHE AND ME: A LOVE STORY about surviving change, was chosen to be part of the 2009 New Orleans Fringe Festival in November! Everything changes when Pat’s longtime soulmate Sam becomes Sheila. Pat tries tap dancing, Buddhism, shopping and crying in her search for the essence of love. WTP gave this dynamic one-woman show a First Draft On Demand workshop reading last month and you have one opportunity to see it fully produced right here in Atlanta before it heads to the bayou when Academy Theatre gives it its first full production in September. Tickets are a mere $12 – so bring your friends! Call Academy for reservations 404.474.8332 or e-mail academytheatre(at)mindspring(dot)com.

Vynnie Meli’s new musical, PLAGUED – A LOVE STORY, developed through Working Title Playwrights, is one of twelve new musicals chosen for production with the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival. These twelve were competitively selected out of more than 300 submissions and Vynnie’s play will receive six performances in October. Aurora Theatre is graciously holding a Broadway or Bust Cabaret benefit to help bring Vynnie’s musical to NYC on Monday, August 24, 7:30 p.m. $40 per ticket- and that’s tax deductible! Call Aurora to RSVP 678.226.6222.

Sherry Paulsen’s LADIES IN WAITING is the recipient of Working Title’s first ever Ethel Woolson Lab. Sherry, along with director Ellen McQueen, dramaturg Kim Brundidge and a cast that includes Bethany Ann Lind, Enisha Brewster, Dina Shadwell, Lynne Ashe, Mike Niedzwiecki and Emma Yarbrough, are workshopping throughout the week to present a smart, fresh script for a staged reading for the public on Saturday, August 22, 7:30 p.m. at Academy Theatre, 119 Center St., Avondale Estates, GA. Call 404.441.2716 or e-mail to managing(at)workingtitleplaywrights(dot)com for reservations. Tickets are only $10, which goes toward paying the amazing creative team helping Sherry bring her funny, poignant coming-of-age story to life.

Working Title is proud to have been part of the development of these three newly award-winning plays and congratulates their authors and wishes for their continued success!