The concept of the American Dream has been an ideal that has gripped the imaginations, and aspirations of millions, as well as inspired. The old fashioned rags to riches tale consisting of a spacious home, a respectable job and a better quality of living are factors that surely none of us could refuse. Drawing on the incredibly influential Chimamanda Ngozi’s short On Monday of Last Week, writer Saaramaria Kuittinen presents a topical tale of immigration, assimilation and culture.

Courtesy of ASME Productions.

Hero: A person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievement or noble qualities (Oxford Dictionaries). Notice the keywords that strike out of that well constructed definition; admired, courage, outstanding achievement, noble. How would you define a hero? Is the concept as clear cut as the sentence above or this a lot more at play?

Courtesy of Etcetera Theatre.

Synonymous with his collection of fables utilising animals as a means of symbolism, Rudyard Kipling‘s The Jungle Book has inspired the works of many. The fine line between us humans and animals has been a topic that will continue to fascinate. Drawing on Kipling’s narrative of a humab being brought up by a collective of animals, Alistair Wilkinson’s Man-Cub seeks to draw a parallel between this and a sexual awakening of a young male on a night out in Greece.

Courtesy of Alistair Wilkinson.

The process of putting a production together is a complicated and often arduous process. However 24 Hour Plays decides to make proceedings even more difficult by giving themselves only twenty-four hours to put a show together. As the Prologue tells us, the actors come together with only themselves, no pre conceived ideas of what they want to create. It is not surprising then that this show becomes centred around the actors’ own experiences and issues.