The Fire This Time Festival was founded in January of 2009, just after the election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the land.  The hope that the Black community felt was reflected in the wide diversity of stories on TFTT stage. But as art is a direct commentary on our society, TFTT has tracked some of the most pressing issues of our time through the lens of our insightful playwrights. From an epidemic of LGBTQ suicides, to the death of Trayvon Martin and the burgeoning Black Lives Matter movement, to the present realities of gun violence, the necessity of active shooter training, and the urgency of protest under an administration concerned with rolling back the progress Blacks have gained, making Barack Obama’s presidency a reality ten years ago.  

Join us for an evening with TFTT playwrights -- including founding playwright and Executive Producer Kelley Girod -- from the past decade, as we look back on ten years of work from TFTT’s journey through the excitement, heartbreaks, and urgency that we all collectively experienced both on the stage, and in real life.