Black Artists Featured as Obsidian Theatre Festival Releases Collection of New Plays, Music, Classes and More

Prior to announcing their 3rd season later this month, the Obsidian Theatre Festival has announced the release of content from the first two seasons of the festival highlighting emerging Black voices.

Over 20 pieces of content will be made available in the initial release on Friday, April 28th, with a second release at the beginning of June. Subsequent release schedule to follow. Subscribe on obsidianfest.org/watch.

"You can't dream to be something you haven't seen." Says Obsidian Producing Artistic Director John Sloan, III. "Every Black artist deserves to have a role model - shoulders to stand on as we' build our careers. But finding those examples is often difficult - not because they don't exist, but because barriers have been put in their place. Our artists deserve a platform to produce work without barriers, our youth deserve access to the education of example, and our community deserves the Obsidian Theatre Festival, and OTF exists to provide these opportunities."

Since 2021, the Obsidian Theatre Festival has featured over 100 pieces of content that include new plays and music by Black artists. Cabaret performances, panel conversations, artist interviews and behind the scenes videos round out the content that will be featured on the website. Over the last two years, OTF has combined theatre and film to produce a hybrid festival with viewership that has spanned 48 states, 28 countries, and over 150 thousand views.

"The streaming landscape for theaters can be a challenging one to navigate", says Senior Creative Producer, Detroit native and Director of Innovation and New Media at The Public Theater in New York, Garlia Cornelia Jones. "Previously, producing institutions focused on physical accessibility. But access needs to be made across all barriers. Obsidian seeks to continue to make this sort of accessibility a priority by streaming our content. It's incredibly meaningful to be among the first to invite our community to enjoy this truly accessible content.."

Three streaming packages are available now on obsidianfest.org/watch: Slate, Noir and Black Pearl. Subscribers can enjoy Free access to all Feature and Educational Content with Slate. Noir is available for $1/ week with access to Featured and Educational Content plus a Free Gift. Noir+ is the annual version with a Discounted rate of $50/year. A Monthly subscription option is available with Black Pearl for $10/month. It includes advance invitations to Special Events and a Free Gift. Black Pearl+ is the Annual option at $100/year.

The inaugural year of the festival was fully streamed at a time when in-person activities were limited. Like the second year, the 3rd annual festival will add in-person offerings at three locations in Downtown Detroit: Marlene Boll Theatre at Downtown YMCA, The Chrysler Black Box at The Detroit Opera House and new this year, Cliff Bell's.

Stay tuned for the full season announcement and line up for the 3rd Annual Obsidian Theatre Festival which includes the naming of our four playwright finalists and a new musical.

Performances begin Thursday, June 22nd and end on Sunday, June 25th. Tickets are free of charge and will be available via the website at www.obsidianfest.org. In lieu of admission, we ask all audience members to consider supporting partners /, The Detroit Public Schools Foundation, Black Theatre United, or making a donation to Obsidian

Last year's festival was made possible, in part, through the generous support of the Mellon Foundation.

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