Crowded Fire Theater Unveils 2026 Season
Season includes co-produced Festival of Palestinian Art and West Coast premiere of a new play.
By: A.A. Cristi Dec. 23, 2025
Crowded Fire Theater will present its 2026 season in San Francisco, featuring a co-produced Festival of Palestinian Art with Golden Thread Productions and the West Coast premiere of Manning by playwright Benjamin Benne.
The season will open with A Festival of Palestinian Art, co-produced with Golden Thread Productions and presented at Potrero Stage. The festival will highlight Palestinian voices across theatre, film, and stand-up comedy and will include AMREEKA 2026: The Comedy Show, curated by Wafaa Bilal; a developmental workshop and reading of A Country Made of Salt by Denmo Ibrahim; and a filmed presentation of The Horse of Jenin, written and performed by Alaa Shehada. Additional programming will be announced.
AMREEKA 2026: The Comedy Show will feature a lineup of Palestinian comedians and center comedy as a space for cultural expression and connection. A Country Made of Salt follows a character who gathers stories from Arab American communities as memory and myth intersect. The Horse of Jenin draws on Shehada’s personal experiences and explores the story of a horse sculpture built from the wreckage of Jenin, combining storytelling, mask work, and stand-up comedy.
The season will conclude with the West Coast premiere of Manning, a play by Benjamin Benne. The work follows a father and his sons as they scatter the ashes of a wife and mother, exploring grief, memory, and connection through a surreal narrative device.
CFT Leader of Artistic Curation & Producing Nailah Harper-Malveaux said, “From sharing a space to sharing staff, we are thrilled to deepen our collaboration with Golden Thread through the art itself! It's an honor to stand in solidarity with them, centering Palestinian artists telling their own stories.
“We view this season as a garden: pollination, decay, compost, growth, nourishment, and beauty living side by side. These pieces offer seeds of healing for these grieving times: deep belly laughs in community; comedy as protest; artists who refuse to be silenced; life-sized puppets and oversized vegetables; men as nurturers; ecological magic and earth that speaks. We invite audiences to step into the soil with us, joining artists and community in the shared work of nurturing bold, necessary stories.”
Performance dates, creative teams, and casting details will be announced at a later time.
San Francisco / Bay Area Awards - Live Stats
Best Musical - Top 3
1.
URINETOWN (Ghostlight Theatre Ensemble)
23.2% of votes
2.
SWEENEY TODD (Cabrillo Stage)
6.9% of votes
3.
THE DAY THE SKY TURNED ORANGE (San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company / Z Space)
6.5% of votes
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