Creative Works of Lancaster will hold the 10th edition of The 24 Hour Plays: Lancaster as a virtual event this year. Livestreaming content will begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20, on Creative Works of Lancaster's YouTube channel, and performances of the plays will begin at 7 p.m.

For nine years, The 24 Hour Plays: Lancaster has inspired new works and brought hundreds of local and regional theater artists together for creative collaboration, often forming bonds that pave the way for future projects. The 10th anniversary event, originally scheduled for the fall of 2020, was postponed due to the COVID-19.

This year, Creative Works of Lancaster will explore new ways of connecting, from delivering special Lancaster community care packages to participants, providing access to the creative process in the virtual realm, and encouraging audience members to follow along and interact through its social media channels.

All joining virtually from different locations, six writers, six directors, 30 actors, and one production team will write, rehearse, and perform six short plays in a 24-hour period starting in the evening on Friday, Feb. 19, when everyone meets for the first time. After an explanation of some ground rules and brief introductions and auditions, the actors and directors will sign off, and the writers will stay online to choose actors for their pieces. The six writers will work through the night to create new plays and then hand off their work to directors early in the morning on Feb. 20. After negotiating for their choice of play, directors will begin rehearsing with their actors. A crew of technicians and volunteers will be on hand to help them prepare for performances to go live on YouTube that evening.

Since their inception in New York City in 1995, The 24 Hour Plays have been performed for audiences throughout the United States and the world, attracting both professional and amateur theater artists. As usual, this year's Lancaster production will feature veteran members of the central Pennsylvania theater scene working alongside artists who may be new to the area or even new to theater.

Tickets can be reserved at http://www.creativelancaster.org. Reserving ahead of time will give ticket holders access to special pre-show content starting at 6 p.m. on Feb. 20, including a sneak peek behind the scenes with participating artists.

Instead of charging a fee up-front, Creative Works will invite viewers to pay what they think the experience was worth after the show. Opportunities to sponsor an artist or a portion of the event will also be available at the aforementioned website.