Curtain goes up before ink is dry

An all-star cast will take to the Old Vic stage later this month and perform six plays produced from scratch in only 24 hours.

Actors including Saffron Burrows, Joseph Fiennes, Victoria Hamilton, Michael Sheen, Gael Garcia Bernal and Brooke Shields will have literally hours to learn their lines.

Kevin Spacey, master of ceremonies for the 24-Hour Plays, said: "Not only is it a great test for everybody, it gets your heart pumping in a way you don't often experience."

Work on the plays, from inventing a subject to writing and then rehearsing, begins at 10pm on Saturday 18 June and will continue until the 1,000-strong audience arrives at the Old Vic the following evening to see the result.

Spacey said: "What I will say to the company before we begin is that this is an incredibly adrenaline-fuelled, creative experience but at some point in the next 24 hours one or all of you will be on the phone to your agents saying 'get me the hell out of this'. But I promise it will pass." He added: "It has a certain high-wire aspect to it that I rather enjoy."

The 19 June gala night, organised by 30-year-old producer Kate Pakenham, will raise money for the Old Vic's development programme, New Voices, which will present its own 24-Hour Plays in July.