Fire This Time Festival In Association With Frigid New York Presents New Works Lab

The Obie-award winning The Fire This Time Festival (http://www.firethistimefestival.com/), in association with Frigid New York @ Horse Trade, is presenting readings of three plays and a screenplay that were developed in its New Works Lab, and they will be held over two days: Thursday May 3, and May 4, 2018, at the Sheen Center in Studio B, located at 18 Bleecker St (between Mott St. and Elizabeth St.) in New York City.

Now in its third cycle, The Fire This Time Festival New Works Lab was launched in 2015 to provide a supportive environment for emerging and early career dramatists of African descent to develop their work. This presentation is a prelude to their acclaimed annual festival which will kick-off on Dr. MLK Day next year in 2019.

The readings are free and open to the public, however reservations must be made here.

The third cohort of New Works Lab playwright members include Tyrell Bennett, Maia Matsushita, Shawn Nabors and T.R. Riggins.

SCHEDULE

"Decisions" by Tyrell Bennett
Thurs May 3rd, Time: 4:30pm

Reginald, a straight-A student and an outsider in his community, doesn't want to do anything other than help his mother out of her opioid addiction. However, his neighborhood continues to offer challenges that cause him to stray from a more positive path.

"Malcolm," a screenplay by Shawn Nabors

Thurs May 3rd, Time: 7:30pm

A coming of age tale that chronicles the life of a young, queer, African American man navigating love, life, and art in New York City during the late 1980's.

"Bastardis Eclipsus" by T.R. Riggins

Friday, May 4, 2018, Time: 5:30pm

Eternally Night. The Sun is but a myth. The Moon shines majestically and Daddies vanish. In their wake, a Boy discovers his father's legacy and struggles against tradition in his journey toward Manhood.

"White Mountains" by Maia Matsushita

Friday, May 4, 2018, Time: 8:30pm

June lost her grandmother. Claire lost her friend. In the wake of a death, grief, guilt, the bonds of both first and chosen families are tested in a house that holds secrets, lies, and love.

The Fire This Time Festival was founded in 2009 by Kelley Girod to provide a platform for playwrights of African and African-American descent to write and produce material that shattered the myth of the Black monolith, and to reflect the diversity of the Black experience on stage. Since the debut of the first 10-minute play program in 2010, presented in collaboration with HorseTrade TheaterGroup, The Fire This Time Festival has expanded into an annual theater festival which includes a flagship 10-minute play program, staged readings, a panel discussion and other programs. The Fire This Time Festival has been recognized as a springboard for Black playwrights and women theater artists and the destination for diverse audiences, producers and artists seeking new possibilities and opportunities in contemporary theater.

Notable playwrights whose work has been featured by The Fire This Time Festival includes Katori Hall (book writer for "Tina: The Musical" in London; "The Mountaintop" on Broadway; "Our Lady of Kibeho" and "Hurt Village" at Signature Theatre), Dominique Morisseau (book writer for the Broadway bound musical "Ain't Too Proud To Beg - The Life and Times of The Temptations" at the Kennedy Center and Berkeley Rep; "Paradise Blue" at Signature Theatre, "Pipeline" at Lincoln Center Theater; "Skeleton Crew" at Atlantic Theater Company; "Detroit '67" at National Black Theatre and The Public Theater), Marcus Gardley ("The House That Will Not Stand" at NYTW, Berkeley Rep and Yale Rep; "A Wonder In My Soul" at Victory Gardens Theater), Antoinette Nwandu (2017-2018 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award; Colt Coeur 2017-2018 Commissioned Playwright; "Pass Over" at LCT3, Steppenwolf Theater, and Cherry Lane Theater; "Breach" at Victory Gardens), Jocelyn Bioh ("School Girls, or the African Mean Girls" at MCC Theater), James Anthony Tyler ("Artney Jackson" at Williamstown Theatre Festival; "Some Old Black Man" at Berkshire Playwright Lab and 59E59; "Dolphins and Sharks" at Labyrinth Theater/Finborough Theatre in London), Jordan E. Cooper ("Ain't No Mo'" at The Public Theater); Jireh Breon Holder ("Too Heavy For Your Pockets" at Roundabout Underground Theater), and Aziza Barnes ("BLKS" at MCC Theater, Woolly Mammoth and Steppenwolf Theater).

FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade is a theater development group dedicated to incubating and producing boundary pushing theater all year round at its East Village base. Through its Resident Artist Program, FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade offers residence to a select group of independent theater artists by pooling together a great deal of talent and energy while focusing on their individuality as independent companies. FRIGID New York is an outgrowth of the annual FRIGID Festival, the first and only festival of its kind in New York City to offer artists 100% of their box office proceeds and Horse Trade Theater Group, a self-sustaining theater development and management group.