25 Plays from the Fire This Time Festival: A Decade of Recognition, Resistance, Resilience, Rebirth, and Black Theater

25 Plays from The Fire This Time Festival: A Decade of Recognition, Resistance, Resilience, Rebirth and Black Theatre contains 25 10-minute plays, originally produced by the Obie Award-winning The Fire This Time Festival in New York City, which has become the destination for emerging and early career playwrights from the African diaspora. Together the plays bookend the Black experience in the U.S. from 2009 beginning with the hope for further progress and equity under the Obama administration concluding with the existential threat faced by Black people under the Trump presidency, and ultimately the bonds strengthened in the Black community through the resistance against said threats.

While the past decade proved to be some of the most tumultuous times in modern US history, the resilience and will of the Black community has continually pushed them forward and helped to open up dialogue and advocacy on a number of issues, with theatre became the staging place for these issues to be spotlighted.

From inequality in education and healthcare, skewed and negative images of Black people in mainstream media, racism in policing, widespread gentrification and its effects on multi-generational Black neighbourhoods, and the growth of Black love, community, and resilience, these conversations have been happening in the US since 2009. The Fire This Time Festival was there, and have borne witness, and this page in their Black history is now documented in the pages of this anthology.

Edited and curated by Kelley Nicole Girod, the anthology divides the plays into seven thematic sections concerning multi-faceted aspects of the Black experience, such as beauty standards and self acceptance in Black America and addressing gentrification in historically Black neighborhoods. Featuring work by writers such as Katori Hall, Antoinette Nwandu, Dominique Morisseau, C.A Johnson and Marcus Gardley, the short plays reflect an exciting, eclectic mix of 21st century theatre and are perfect for study, performance and reflection.