8th Annual Fire This Time Festival to Welcome Seven New Playwrights

Now in its eighth season, the Obie Award-winning The Fire This Time Festival has commissioned seven playwrights to write new 10-minute plays for the 2017 festival, which will run January 16-February 5, 2017 at The Kraine Theater (85 East 2nd Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery).

The 2017 playwrights will include Fredrica Bailey (pictured, left, 2015 Action Adventure semi-finalist in Final Draft's Big Break Contest for The Expat; Tisch's Paulette Goddard Scholarship; Charles Purpura Award for Special Recognition in Screenwriting), Karen Chilton (author of the critically-acclaimed biography Hazel Scott: From Café Society to Hollywood to HUAC; co-author of legendary jazz vocalist Gloria Lynne's memoir, I Wish You Love), Jordan E. Cooper (Black Boy Fly, voted 'Best New Play' by BroadwayWorld.Com), C.A. Johnson (Lark's 2016 Van Lier Playwriting Fellow; 2010 James Baldwin Fund Prize for Multi-cultural Playwriting for One-Way Ticket to Solid Ground), Michelle Tyrene Johnson (Echoes of Octavia with Rhymes Over Beats Theater; Justice in the Embers with StoryWorks, Kansas City/San Francisco), Eliana Pipes (EST/LA's Festival of One Acts; winner of the Blank Theater's Young Playwright's Festival, The California Playwright's Project, and The Young Playwright's Inc. National Competition), and Shamar S. White (NYU/Tisch Dramatic Writing Ten-Minute Script Festival winner for Battles and The Virgin; Dramatist Guild Member).

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), James Anthony Tyler (Dolphins and Sharks), and Antoinette Nwandu (Pass Over at Steppenwolf).

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.

For more about the festival, visit www.firethistimefestival.com.