An all-star cast will perform in The 24 Hour Plays which will be presented for the 4th time at the Abbey Theatre on Sunday February 1st.
The cast includes BBC Sherlock’s Yasmine Akram, Coronation Street and Fair City and Boyzone star, Keith Duffy, and Tony Award Nominee, Sarah Greene. Writers include John Butler (The Stag), Róise Goan (Ros na Rún) and Michelle Read. Directors for 2015 are Oonagh Murphy, Dan Colley and Gerry Stembridge.
The 24 Hour Plays will return to the Abbey Theatre on Sunday, 1st February 2015, for the 4th annual presentation in aid of Dublin Youth Theatre. Six short plays will be written, rehearsed and presented all within 24 hours by the best of Irish writing and directing talent and over two dozen of Ireland’s most recognized and beloved stars of stage and screen. A team of over 20 theatre technicians, including producers from The 24 Hour Company in New York, will facilitate the work.
This will be the 4th annual presentation of The 24 Hour Plays as a special fundraising event for Dublin Youth Theatre and tickets will cost from €30-€85, with all proceeds going directly to DYT. Tickets are now on sale www.abbeytheatre.ie / +353 1 87 87 222
The 24 Hour Plays originated in New York in the mid-90s and is now an annual gala benefit on Broadway, as well as at the Old Vic in London, with performances in Chicago, Athens and around the world. The first Irish incarnation of The 24 Hour Plays received its sold-out Irish premiere presentation in February 2012 at Project Arts Centre and went on to win a Special Recognition Award for Best Event at the Irish Fundraising Awards that year. In January 2013, the show moved to the Abbey Theatre where it played to a sold-out house. Now in its 4th year, The 24 Hour Plays has raised over €25,500 for Dublin Youth Theatre through ticket sales and donations.
FULL CREATIVE TEAM BELOW:
The cast includes YASMINE AKRAM, pictured left (Sherlock), GLEN BARRY (Dracula Untold), JONNY BEAUCHAMP (Penny Dreadful), STEVE BLOUNT (Swing), REEVE CARNEY (Spiderman on Broadway, Penny Dreadful), NEILI CONROY (Love/Hate), KEITH DUFFY (Coronation Street, Fair City, Big Maggie, Dandelions), JAY DUFFY (Vikings, Hollyoaks), DAVID FENNELLY (What Richard Did), DAVID FLEMING (The Goo), EVA-JANE GAFFNEY (What Richard Did), LISA GARVEY (Callan’s Kicks), CHARLENE GLEESON (The Playboy of the Western World), SARAH GREENE (TONY AWARD NOMINEE The Cripple of Inishmaan on Broadway, The Guard), ANDREA IRVINE (Line of Duty, Love/Hate, Terminus), SIMONE KIRBY (Peaky Blinders, Love/Hate, Pure Mule), AONGHUS ÓG MCANALLY (Fight Night, The Games People Play), RORY NOLAN (Fair City, The Last Days of the Celtic Tiger), HILARY O’SHAUGHNESSY (Silence, Make & Do), PAUL ROE (Red Rock, Adam and Paul), MARIE RUANE (Raw, In Dog Years I’m Dead), and JONATHAN WHITE (Ripper Street, Anglo The Musical).
Playwrights include BARBARA BERGIN (On The Couch, Warriors), JOHN BUTLER (The Stag, Your Bad Self), DYLAN COBURN GRAY (Stewart Parker Award nominated Boys And Girls), ROISE GOAN (Ros na Rún, Aifric, Grounded), KATE HEFFERNAN (Stewart Parker Award winner In Dog Years I’m Dead), and MICHELLE READ (BBC Radio Drama Award 2003, Plays About My Dad).
Directors include DAN COLLEY (Monster/Clock, Human Child for Collapsing Horse), GARY KEEGAN (Brokentalkers), OONAGH MURPHY (Assistant Director Donmar Warehouse (2013), Into The Woods), BAIRBRE NI CHAOIMH (Performed in Angela’s Ashes, Laundry), RONAN PHELAN (Lambo), and GERRY STEMBRIDGE (The Waste Ground Party, Maeve’s House, Ordinary Decent Criminal, Nora).
The 24 Hour Plays producers Eva Scanlan and Philly McMahon are delighted to have such a high-profile creative team involved in the production:
‘We are delighted to announce the best line-up on any Irish stage in 2015! Our cast includes Tony Award nominee Sarah Greene, Jonny Beauchamp, and Reeve Carney all from the cast of Penny Dreadful; Keith Duffy, who is known for his charitable work in Ireland and the UK; and screenwriter John Butler, fresh from the success of The Stag. We’re happy to welcome back our 24 Hour Plays veterans Jay Duffy, Rory Nolan, Bairbre Bergin, Aonghus Og McAnally, and Marie Ruane, and welcome a new group of talent to the show. Every playwright, director and actor in our creative team gives up their time and talent on a voluntary basis in aid of Dublin Youth Theatre, and thanks to all the volunteers who work on the show, over €25,500 has been raised for Dublin Youth Theatre since 2012.’
DYT’s artistic director, David Kelly welcomed the news of the fundraiser:
‘The anticipation and excitement is growing as we look forward to The 24 Hour Plays in February 2015. In my role as the Artistic director of Dublin Youth Theatre, this fundraiser is a crucial event. The monies raised help us to realise an ambitious, exciting and challenging artistic programme for the young people of DYT in 2015 and beyond.’