Theater News

Berkley, McCarthy, Sheedy, et al. to Appear in 24 is 10: The Best of The 24 Hour Plays at FringeNYC

Andrew McCarthy
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)
Andrew McCarthy
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)

Elizabeth Berkley, Rachel Dratch, Matthew Lillard, Andrew McCarthy, muMs, Ally Sheedy, and Andre Royo are among the actors set to participate in 24 is 10: The Best of The 24 Hour Plays, to be presented August 22-27 as part of the 10th annual New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC). The event will feature 10-minute works by such playwrights as David Lindsay-Abaire, Warren Leight, Teresa Rebeck, Jeff Whitty, Christopher Shinn, Will Eno, Adam Bock, Mike Doughty, John Belluso, Elizabeth Meriwether, and Michael John Garces. All performances will take place at the Lucille Lortel Theater.

24 is 10 is presented by the 24 Hour Company, which ws begun in 1995 by a group of friends who gathered in a small theater on the Lower East Side to attempt to write, rehearse, and present six new short plays within the space of a single day. Over the past 10 years, the rotating cast and crew of The 24 Hour Plays have performed on and Off-Broadway, as well as in Chicago, Los Angeles, Montreal, London, and Bonn. Participants have included Tony, Oscar, and Pulitzer Prize winners working in collaboration with emerging artists and students.

Berkley starred in the film Showgirls and appeared in the 2004 Broadway revival of Sly Fox. Dratch is best known for her work on Saturday Night Live. Lillard played Shaggy in the Scooby Doo movies. McCarthy appeared Off-Broadway in Fat Pig; a star of such ’80s films as Pretty in Pink and St. Elmo’s Fire, he was one of Hollywood’s “Brat Pack.” muMs is featured on HBO’s Oz. Sheedy, another Brat Packer, co-starred with McCarthy in St. Elmo’s Fire and appeared in such other films as The Breakfast Club and High Art; she also did a brief stint in the title role of Hedwig and the Angry Inch Off-Broadway. Royo plays Bubbles on HBO’s The Wire.

Each performance of 24 is 10 will feature a different program of plays; the actors will rotate, and casting is subject to change. For more information, visit www.24hourplays.com.