The Fire This Time Festival Names 2016 Playwrights

Now in it's seventh season, the Obie Award winning The Fire This Time Festival has commissioned seven playwrights to write new 10-minute plays for the 2016 festival, which will run January 18-February 6 at The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery). The 2016 playwrights will include Tanya Everett (Without Scars with Breast Friends), Keelay Gipson (The Lost at Planet Connections Theater Festivity; N/F at Downtown Urban Theater Festival), Jiréh Breon Holder (2012-13 Kenny Leon Fellow, Alliance Theatre), Roger Q. Mason (Onion Creek with Son of Semele Ensemble, Los Angeles), Stacey Rose (2015-16 Dramatists Guild Fellow), Korde Arrington Tuttle (Beautiful Mess in Around the Block: a 5D Project), and Nia Ostrow Witherspoon (Global Arts Fund Grant for The Messiah Complex).

THE FIRE THIS TIME FESTIVAL Playwright Kelley Nicole Girod founded the festival in 2009 to provide rising playwrights of African and African American descent a platform to write and develop new work. The festival was conceived as an opportunity for playwrights to write and produce material that reflects diverse perspectives as 21st century theater artists.

The first season of TFTT brought together over thirty collaborative performers, directors, and other collaborators to create an amazing evening of short one-act plays. Presented by Horse Trade Theater Group over a five-show run in February 2010, the first season of the festival sold out every presentation. Exploring themes from euthanasia, hero-worship, intergenerational conflict, and more, the inaugural season of TFTT presented a dynamic theatrical experience.

Following the success of the first year, TFTT has continued to grow, with input from participating playwrights and other collaborators. The Festival has evolved into an annual January event, expanding upon its core short play presentations to offer panel discussions, staged readings, and other programs. With ongoing momentum, TFTT has quickly become a destination for diverse audiences, producers, and artists seeking new possibilities and opportunities in contemporary theater. The festival has previously featured the work of notable playwrights such as Katori Hall (The Mountaintop, Hurt Village), Dominique Morrisseau (Detroit '67), Marcus Gardley (The Box), Radha Blank (Seed) and Zoey Martinson (Ndebele Funeral).

FRIGID New York is a theater development group with a focus on new work that produces a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater every season. FRIGID's Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. FRIGID New York grew out of the annual FRIGID Festival, the first and only festival of its kind in New York City to offer artists 100% of their box office proceeds, and Horse Trade Theater Group, a self-sustaining theater development and management group.