“The worst play you’ll ever write, for the best audience you’ll ever have.” - Alex Segal, Producer

[A BIT] ABOUT …

“Old Vic New Voices: The 24 Hour Plays are exactly what they say on the tin. Seven plays required – a writer, some actors, a producer and a director assigned to each slot and given 24 hours to come up with the goods, which is then performed at The Old Vic. Gulp!

I was one of the seven writers chosen to join The 24 Hour Plays Company 2008. Over 2000 people applied.

“For the unique demands of this project, we were looking for individuals not only with extraordinary creative flair, but those who understood and were enthused by the benefits of collaborative working” [– Kevin Spacey, The Old Vic Artistic Director]

Actually, you know what I just said about “Old Vic New Voices: The 24 Hour Plays are exactly what they say on the tin”. I lied. Us lucky lot in fact got 23 hours. Why? The clocks went forward, didn’t they!

The show was introduced by Kevin Spacey, and hosted by Jeff Goldblum (yes, Jeff Goldblum) and Laura Michelle Kelly. The [sold-out] audience were treated to the short plays, as we all tried to get our heads around the fact that at 10pm the previous night, nothing they were seeing on that stage existed.” [-Alison]

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wade? by Alison Carr

The play was performed on Sunday 30 March 2008 at The Old Vic Theatre, London.

The cast was as follows:

LINDA: Naomi Said
MAGGIE: Sian Breckin
RUTH: Natalie Duvall
STEVE: Drew Horner

Directed by Simon Evans
Asst. Director: Libby Penn