Over this weekend, The 24 Hour Plays 2012, is held at The Old Vic.
In a Saturday of high activity, six new short plays are created and taken to first performance on the Sunday evening. This is theatre risk taking at its exciting best as previous years' shows have proven.
The age limit for participants has been extended to 30 (from 25) for this year's team of 21 actors, six producers, six writers, and six directors who have accepted the challenge, and with over 2,000 applicants proving that new voices are not necessarily young voices.
In addition to a batch of positive reviews, the initiative can count amongst its successes participants of previous events going on to take up positions in artistic directorships, as producers or having offers of career developing commissions and roles.
No small feat for an enterprise that receives no public subsidy even if it benefits from a big name like The Old Vic.