David Lindsay-Abaire (Wonder of the World, Fuddy Meers), Courtney Baron, singer-songwriter Mike Doughty, Steven Goldman, Sami Plotkin and Daniel Reitz have lent their writing talents to the Dec. 2 performance of The 24 Hour Plays.

The curtain on these rapidly-written one-acts will go up — for one night only — at 8PM at The Atlantic Theater in New York City.

The day-long process of The 24 Hour Plays began at 10 PM Dec. 1. Typically, a group of 50 theatre artists (playwrights, directors, actors and designers) meet and are briefed and photographed. The writers are then left to their own wits to produce a 10-minute play. The following morning at 7 AM, the directors give the scripts a once-over, divvy them up and cast them. Actors make their entrance at 8 AM and rehearse from 9 AM on. The technical rehearsals run from 5 PM to 7:30 PM. Doors open at 7:45 and curtain rises at 8 PM and voila: six shows, all in a day's work.

The directors for these plays include Stephanie Ansin, Matthew Brookshire, Oleg Kheyfets, Christian Parker, Laurisa Poulos and Daphne Richards. They will direct casts that feature quick-learner thespians Rene Alberta, Desiree Burch, John Carlino, John Conlee, John G. Connolly, Brent Cox, Rosemarie DeWitt, Tor Ekeland, Rhonda Keyser, Sara Lamm, Louise McCabe, Michael Morin, Kelley Rae O'Donnell, Bradford Olson, Connor Ratcliff, Lulu Roche, Garret Savage, Matt Semler, Robin Skye, Hilary Stoltz and Danielle Tamar.

For tickets ($15) to The 24 Hour Plays at The Atlantic Theater, 336 West 20 Street (between Eighth and Ninth Ave.), call SmartTix (212) 206-1515 or online at www.smarttix.com. For more information, visit www.24hourplays.com. — by Ernio Hernandez