HARLEM9 Will Return for 15th Year, Honoring Woodie King Jr.

After a one-year hiatus, the Harlem9 producers have announced the return of their flagship festival in Harlem. The OBIE Award-Winning producers of “48Hours in…Harlem”, “48Hours in…El Bronx”, “48Hours in…Detroit”, “48Hours in…Dallas,” “48Hours in…Holy Ground”, and most recently, “48Hours in…Baton Rouge” is marking 15 years of championing Black voices with a tribute to Woodie King Jr. who passed in late January. 

The award winning producer founded the New Federal Theatre in 1970.  New Federal Theatre's founding mission was “to integrate artists of color and women into the mainstream of American theatre by training artists for the profession and by presenting plays by writers of color and women to integrated, multicultural audiences—plays which evoke the truth through beautiful and artistic re-creations of ourselves.”  To date, the organization has produced over 450 plays. Harlem9's 2026 Harlem festival will draw inspiration from six groundbreaking New Federal productions, inviting playwrights to create new works in dialogue.  “48Hours in…Harlem” will take place on Sunday, August 30.  

The “48Hours in...️” festivals bring together six playwrights, six directors, and 18 actors. This year's Harlem playwrights will be charged with writing a new 10-minute play inspired by one of these six plays, both published and unpublished, from New Federal Theatre's canon: In the New England Winter by Ed Bullins, Hospice by Pearl Cleage, Black Girl by Jennie Elizabeth Franklin, Long Time Since Yesterday by P.J. Gibson, When the Chickens Came Home to Roost by Laurence Holder, and James Baldwin: A Soul on Fire by Howard B. Simon.

“Woodie King Jr. will always be a GIANT in our community — not just for what he built, but for how he made you feel while he was building it. His sheer joy in championing the ambition of Black artists is what made him singular. For our 15th anniversary, honoring Woodie and the New Federal Theatre felt less like a choice and more like a calling; he made room for so many of us at the table and with this year's festival we'll uplift that legacy while doing the same. We will continue to carry the torch”, said Eric Lockley, one of the Harlem9 Co-Founders, and one of the Co-Founders of The Movement Theatre Company.

A whirlwind 3-days of play creation will culminate with two live performances on Sunday, August 30, 2026. Showtime and Tickets announced at a later date.  Tickets will be available in May.   The performances will take place at Jacques d'Amboise Center for Learning & the Arts at National Dance Institute for Learning & The Arts, located at 217 W. 147th Street, New York, New York.

The six playwrights, six directors and 18 actors will be announced at a later date. 

In 2019, the OBIE Award-Winning collective succeeded in gaining a national audience when they produced “48Hours in...El Bronx” with Pregones / PRTT,  “48Hours in...Detroit” with Detroit Public Theatre, “48Hours in...Dallas” with Shades of Brown Theatre, and “48Hours in...Holy Ground” in Winston-Salem at The National Black Theatre Festival in partnership with NC Black Rep. The collective celebrated their 10th Anniversary  with a digital festival in 2020 and forged a partnership with Harlem Stage and the Lortel Foundation for Consequences in 2021.