The Fire This Time Festival Short Play Anthology - Published!

My heart is full once again. I’ve been in this game long enough to have swallowed a lot of near-misses and disappointments. A younger version of me really took every single setback personally. But what I’ve learned over the years is creative community is everything. Making work with people you love, making plays for the passion of it, for the art of it… that’s why it’s worth it, and community is what lifts you up when you fall, and holds you accountable when you go astray.

And real community is exactly what was growing when I joined The Fire This Time Festival during its inaugural season. Horse Trade Theater Group provided some modest room for seven Black playwrights to gather ensembles and present a shared evening of theater. There was barely any money involved. All kinds of challenges, but it was a moment. And I think everyone could tell it was the beginning of something special.

Now, for the first time, The Fire This Time Festival is publishing an anthology: 25 Plays from The Fire This Time Festival: A Decade of Recognition, Resistance, Resilience, Rebirth and Black Theater, edited by festival founder, executive producer, and amazing playwright Kelley Nicole Girod, a dear friend.

I’m so proud of the way the Festival has grown to become a destination, and I’m doubly proud to have helped ignite the spark that has helped sustain creative community for so many years. I stayed on to directly produce the next two seasons, and have continued to support the festival from behind the scenes every year. It’s become a long-term commitment, not because of money, or even prestige. I still support this platform because of community.

And of course, I’m tickled to have Citizen Jane among the selections in the anthology. I had so much fun generating that work. The memories are flooding back!

Sheree Renée Thomas, Darren Mallett, LaJune Grant, Lauren Rhodes Cooper, Nicole Judd, Moi, Dylan Kammerer, and Rhonney Greene! The Original Citizen Jane Team!

I’m looking forward to reading this Anthology cover to cover. So many good friends and colleagues with work in these pages, alongside a hefty number of plays and artists I don’t know as well.

Congrats to everyone involved. Can’t wait to see what this Festival has next.