24:7 Theatre Festival

24:7 Theatre Festival
24:7 Theatre Festival Logo (2013 - present)
Begins	July
Ends	July
Frequency	Annual
Location(s)	Manchester, UK
Inaugurated	2004
Website
247theatrefestival.co.uk

The 24:7 Theatre Festival is an annual event in Manchester, United Kingdom, specialising in showcasing new writing talent from across the North West. It was founded in 2004 by David Slack and Amanda Hennessey, and has continued annually since, with patrons including the actors Robert Powell, John Henshaw, David Fleeshman and Sue Jenkins. The festival has also attracted financial backing from Arts Council England, Manchester City Council, Manchester Airport and The Co-Operative.

24:7 aims to bring innovative drama to the people of Manchester and nurtures the writing, directing, performing and producing talent of tomorrow. Each year, scripts are chosen using a ‘blind’ adjudication process: all plays are read anonymously without any judges knowing the writer’s name, giving all entrants an equal chance of being featured in the festival, each being performed in venues not typically associated with theatrical performances. These have included The Midland Hotel, New Century House and a variety of pubs, clubs and bar spaces across the city centre.

David Slack devised the idea behind 24:7, when he was performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2002. Inspired by a city alive with creative vibrancy, he developed a plan to bring the most exciting elements of the Fringe to Manchester. The focus would be on new writing and untapped acting talent; a showcase for original and stimulating theatre brought to unconventional venues in the heart of his hometown.

The inaugural festival began on 24 July 2004, and featured eighty performances of seventeen shows across five different venues. Somehow, this trial by fire worked - with nearly 1,500 audience members for the initial year, across the various locations. All of these were unconventional spaces to perform plays around Exchange Square in Manchester and Chapel Street in Salford.

Initial press was positive - with the BBC’s local website showing a keen interest. The year was rounded off with a win at the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards - as 24:7 scooped Best Newcomer.