The Apollo Partners With The Fire This Time Festival

The Apollo announced that The Fire This Time Festival, the Obie-Award-winning theater festival celebrating playwrights of African and African American descent, will make its permanent home at The Apollo Stages at The Victoria beginning in January 2026 with the 17th installment of the annual event. Presented in collaboration with FRIGID New York, the 2026 festival expands upon The Apollo’s growing theater programming and will feature six world-premiere 10-minute plays directed by preeminent director and creator, Ken-Matt Martin and written by Teniia Micazia Brown, Preston Crowder, Mo Holmes, Naomi Lorrain, DeLane McDuffie, and Donathan Walters.

New plays in The Fire This Time Festival are humorous, moving, pointed, and political, and are written by an impressive group of emerging playwrights with credits and recognition spanning a Next Wave Initiative Lorraine Hansberry Award winner, multiple O'Neill National Playwrights Conference semi-finalists and finalists, and performances with The National Black Theatre. The six world premiere plays that comprise the 2026 festival are Everything But-, Black to Save the Day, Clumsy, DNR, Goose, and White Diamond.

“Theater has always been a mirror to our world—a space where we confront who we are and imagine who we can become,” said Kamilah Forbes, Executive Producer of The Apollo. “I couldn’t be more delighted for the collaboration between The Apollo and The Fire This Time Festival that the dynamic Kelley Girod has founded and shepherded for the last sixteen years. Through this collaboration, we are building onto The Apollo’s long tradition of using the stage to illuminate the complexities of contemporary society and elevate the voices whose stories move us, challenge us, and ultimately connect us.”

“To bring The Fire This Time Festival to The Apollo is to root our work in the very heart of Black artistic excellence,” said Kelley Girod, Founder of The Fire This Time Festival and Apollo New Works Director. “The Apollo has always been a beacon for voices that define culture and truth. This partnership allows us to continue nurturing the playwrights and storytellers who are illuminating our world in powerful new ways.”

"Moving to the Apollo is a dream come true for our artists and our community,” said Cezar Williams, Artistic Director of The Fire This Time Festival. “This partnership not only places their work on a legendary stage but also connects them to the deep, creative wellspring of Harlem. Our artists will be presenting their work at a cultural institution that has a deep history of cultivating and celebrating Black voices. This move will provide them with unparalleled resources and visibility, fostering new opportunities for growth and innovation. Thereby, furthering our mission of amplifying the career pipeline for Black artists."

The cast for the 2026 The Fire This Time Festival will be announced later this year.

Founded in 2009 by Apollo New Works Director Kelley Girod, the OBIE Award–winning festival has launched the voices of more than 90 Black playwrights, including Katori Hall, Dominique Morisseau, Jordan E. Cooper, Radha Blank, Antoinette Nwandu, Jocelyn Bioh, Marcus Gardley, Stacey Rose, Aziza Barnes, C.A. Johnson, Charly Evon Simpson, Angelica Cheri, James Anthony Tyler, and Ngozi Anyanwu. The first festival in 2010 premiered a ten-minute play by Katori Hall, whose The Mountaintop went on to Broadway the following year. Cezar Williams became the Artistic Director of The Fire This Time Festival in 2017.

Beyond its stage productions, The Fire This Time Festival fuels a creative pipeline—supporting actors, directors, and theater technicians—and amplifies underrepresented voices shaping the future of American theater.

As the Apollo’s Historic Theater undergoes renovation, the festival underscores the institution’s commitment to Black storytelling, artistic innovation, and social impact. The partnership builds on recent acclaimed Apollo productions, including HANGTIME by Zora Howard, Echoes of the Storm, and Bricks, a funk-rock musical exploring family and the spirit world.

Audiences can enjoy past seasons of The Fire This Time Festival on the free ALL ARTS app and website at AllArts.org/FireThisTimeFestival.