Crowded Fire

Last month, our leadership team traveled to DC to visit Mosaic Theater as a part of our "National Cohort for a New American Theater." ⁠ ⁠ So much gratitude to the Mosaic Team and all their partners, and to the other theaters in our cohort: Perseverance Theatre (Juneau), Company One (Boston), Cleveland Public Theatre (Cleveland), Mosaic (DC).

See an all Palestinian Comedy Lineup on Demand!⁠ ⁠ 10% of proceeds will go to the Middle East Children's Alliance ⁠ ⁠ Laugh with us at the Link in Bio!

Supporting artists • Reflecting on our world • Creating Something New In the last two years, four playwrights each developed new works in our Resilience and Development (R&D) lab. Last evening, we gathered in to close this cohort, and to celebrate all of their work. “I Did Not K!ll My Mother, and Other Lies I Tell Myself” by Anthony Doan “Lenora II” by Aidaa Peerzada “Big Game Animals” by Leigh M. Marshall “Hot Faith: Vignettes of Faith and Fire” by Ashley Smiley [Our next cohort will start in early 2027]

Crowded Fire is proud to partner with the Greenhouse Festival of New Plays 2026! See readings of five new plays by writers of the SF State MFA program. ⁠ ⁠ All readings start at 7pm at the Lab Theater at SF State and are free and open to the public! Check out the details in the slideshow, and see the link in bio for more information.

A year ago yesterday, beloved community member and artist hodari blue passed away, just days after the closing performance of “the last of the love letters.” It was and is a devastating loss for our community. Yesterday, we took the day off and gathered at the beach to honor and celebrate hodari. Going forward, Crowded Fire’s offices will be closed every 5/8 in remembrance of hodari and we will spend that time in nature, in dance, and in the memory of their extraordinary light. Today, we celebrate the gift of their deeply curious, fiery, and loving spirit. We had the honor of first working with hodari in 2021, and have forever been changed for the better. hodari’s connection to Crowded Fire started in the developmental workshop of A-lan Holt’s play “The Bottom of Heaven.” They were a principal dancer in Star Finch’s “Shipping and Handling” and played the role of Person in “Last of the Love Letters” last year. There are no words that can adequately express how fully hodari’s joy, artistry, and presence radiated through every life they touched, and how much their absence is felt every day. Their spirit lives on in the people they touched. We see and honor hodari in the love, curiosity, fierceness, honesty and tenderness of those who are still here. 💙hodari blue, we love you and we miss you.💙 *** Image 1: Headshot of hodari blue Image 2: Photo by Cheshire Isaacs from Shipping and Handling of hodari blue Video: hodari dancing with finger light gloves to Lauren Hill music, Love Letters rehearsal, Spring 2025 Image 3: hodari and shadow, love letters rehearsal Image 4: hodari and Gabriele Christian, on the Love Letters set

Missed the live performance of Amreeka 2026: The Comedy Show from our Festival of Palestinian Art last month? We’ve got you covered! Go to our link in bio and get access to the video on demand!⁠ ⁠ Amreeka: The Comedy Show is curated by Wafaa Bilal and features comedians Suzie Afridi, Charles McBee, Lana Salah, and Majdy Fares⁠ ⁠ Laughter is Resistance! Proceeds will support the artists, organizations, and the Middle Eastern Children’s Alliance (MECA - )

Congratulations to Christopher Chen, who won a 2025 Steinberg Playwright Award last month!⁠ ⁠ This award was for his entire body of work, including three world premieres at Crowded Fire: The Hundred Flowers Project, A Tale of Autumn, and The Late Wedding. ⁠ ⁠ We caught up with Chris last week and heard a bit about the cool projects he's working on. Catch "The Motion" on the Arena Stage in DC, opening next week, and see his writing in episode 2 of Spider-Noir starring Nicolas Cage, streaming May 25th.

And just like that, our Festival of Palestinian Art is closed! With multiple shows sold out, we couldn’t be more thankful to our artist, staff, volunteers, audiences, and community partners! Here is to Palestinian artistry, laughter, healing, and liberation. This video of the standing ovation that writer/performer Alaa Shehada received at the end of THE HORSE OF JENIN screening says it all.

You have two more chances — Tonight at 8pm and tomorrow at 3pm — to see Amreeka: A Comedy Show. 90 minutes • Palestinian Line Up • SOOO FUNNY • Don’t miss it! #freepalestine🇵🇸 #comedy #laughterisresistance #joyisresistance #sfbayarea

So many friendly faces and amazing collaborators on our Festival of Palestinian Art! We can’t wait to see you tonight through Sunday for Amreeka: A comedy show

Today, we’re amplifying a tax that gives back to the land, air, water and Indigenous stewards of this land. Tax season makes quite clear the contradictions and ethical dilemmas in living in a system designed to fund war at the expense of the will of the majority. How do we take actions towards liberation in a world that compels us to choose between complicity in genocide and stability for ourselves and loved ones. One way that we have chosen to reconcile these truths is by paying our voluntary land tax to recognize the ancestral and current stewards of the land we are on, Ramaytush Ohlone land. Crowded Fire is proud to pay Yunakin land tax and encourages our neighbors to join in. There is no amount of money that will ever be enough to redress the genocide, land theft and settler colonial violence that has taken place in the United States, but this monetary contribution is a step in the right direction of acknowledging the past harm and paving way for more action. We hope you will join us! Write in the comments if you pay Yunakin, Shuumi or any other voluntary land tax! Give Shuumi at bit.ly/shuumi Give Yunakin at bit.ly/yunakin Thank you @sogoreatelandtrust @ramaytushohlone

AMREEKA 2026: The Comedy Show brings Palestinian stand-up to San Francisco this weekend. Palestinian laughter is a radical act of resistance. join us on April 17-19 at Potrero Stage. Info/tix thru link in bio 👆👆