“To bring The Fire This Time Festival to The Apollo is to root our work in the very heart of Black artistic excellence.” - Kelley Girod, Founder of The Fire This Time Festival, Apollo New Works Director, & Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of 2025

The 17th Annual Fire This Time Festival makes its Apollo debut with an incredible lineup of world-premiere works! The 10-minute plays, all directed by the visionary Ken-Matt Martin, span the humorous, the moving, the pointed, and the political, capturing the urgency and imagination of today’s emerging playwrights. 

Meet the next generation of playwrights & creatives whose voices are shaping what theater is becoming, not just what it has been: 

• DeLane McDuffie (Goose) 
• Donathan Walters (White Diamond) 
• Mo Holmes (Clumsy) 
• Naomi Lorrain (DNR) 
• Preston Crowder (Black To Save The Day)
• Teniia Brown (Everything But—) 

• malik childs (artist/actor)
• Nikiya Matthis (Tony Award-winning actress & hair/wig designer) 
• Kareem Lucas (actor) 
• Victor Musoni (actor, writer, dancer, director)

From superhero satire to intergenerational activism, get ready for a dynamic theatrical experience that celebrates the future of Black theater!

Online tickets for the shows on January 23 and January 24 are currently sold out. A limited number of tickets will be available to purchase in-person at our Box Office. In-person tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis. The Apollo's Box Office will be open from 10 AM to 8 PM for Friday performances and from 12 PM - 8 PM for Saturday matinee and evening performances. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early and experience Got To Be There: The Apollo, Its People and Its Stories in the Laura and Frank Baker Gallery. 

January 23 - 31
2:30 PM & 7:30 PM
The Apollo Stages at The Victoria 

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