Submissions Now Open for 3rd Annual Obsidian Theatre Festival

Ghostlight Productions and Nicely Theatre Group are partnering once again, for the 3rd Annual Obsidian Theatre Festival. After two successful years , Obsidian's live and virtual offerings are back, with an expanded team. "Words can't express how excited I am to grow this festival. We launched OTF in 2020, during a time when the world truly felt upside down. People were flooding the streets across the country in protest, while we all grappled with the effects of a global pandemic. We needed an outlet. We needed a way to speak, to shout, to stand emboldened by our truth -- by the sheer audacity of our existence. That's why The Obsidian Theatre Festival is important. Words can't express how excited I am to grow this festival. We give a voice to Black artists across the country. We center a city responsible for propelling a nation's economy. We use theatre as a catalyst for social change. This might just be our third season, but we've already been able to infuse hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Detroit economy, providing employment for over 200 individuals. And we've only just begun. We are proud of our accomplishments so far, and how inspired we are to build our future.", says John Sloan III, Co-Executive Producer of the 3rd Annual Obsidian Theatre Festival.

Submissions are now open through December 16th, 2022 at 11:59pm EST. Visit www.obsidianfest.org/submit to submit. This is the 2nd year of the partnership between Obsidian and Blackboard Plays. Founded in 2008, by Obsidian Senior Creative Producer, Garlia Cornelia Jones, Blackboard is devoted to Black Playwrights through the African Diaspora. The submission process will be open to all Black identifying playwrights countrywide.

The 2023 Submission Review Committee includes: 2nd Year MT Showcase Lyricist and Book writer, Ann Eskridge and Inaugural year Playwright and 2nd year Actor, Edmund Alyn Jones. The Musical Theatre Submission Review Committee includes: Jason Veasey (A Strange Loop, The Lion King). Artistic Consultant, and former Associate Artistic Director, Alexis Sims will chair both committees. Stay tuned to our website for the rest of the panel as confirmed.

Obsidian is a hybrid theatre festival with virtual and in-person performing arts events, as well as ancillary offerings. During its inaugural year, Obsidian featured emerging Black artists, actors, directors, and playwrights from Detroit. Ancillary content from 2021 and 2022, can be found on Youtube, Facebook and ObsidianFest.org. Ancillary content for 2023 will also be found there, free of charge. Registration will be required and necessary for our COVID compliance, Health and Safety protocols.

Last year's festival was made possible, in part, through the generous support of the Mellon Foundation. Over the past 2 seasons, The Obsidian Theatre Festival has produced over 100 individual segments including panels, interviews, behind the scenes videos, original music performances, and educational opportunities for students across the country, with viewership in 48 states and 28 countries.

As in previous years, viewers will be encouraged to support one of these three charitable organizations: Black Theatre United, Detroit Public Schools Foundation and the Ghostlight Arts Initiative. Donate at www.obsidianfest.org/donate

Picking up where they left off, the Obsidian Executive Team is building upon last year's festival. Alongside Co-Executive Producer and Producing Artistic Director, John Sloan III (The Lion King, GhostLight Productions) are Senior Creative Producer, Garlia Cornelia Jones (Blackboard Plays, Harlem9, The Public, PAAL), General Manager and Senior Producer, Amber D. Gray (Arena Stage, Alley Theatre, The Public, Stages Repertory Theatre); Artistic Consultant, Alexis Sims (For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When The Rainbow Is Enuf). Joining the team this season is Dr. Rashida Harrison, the new OTF Director for Education, Enrichment, and Professional Development.

Obsidian, produced in the city of Detroit, by Detroiters, is a celebration of Black stories that continues to highlight the prolific work of emerging Black voices, focusing on the vast array of diverse experiences of those within the African diaspora in America.

Visit www.obsidianfest.org for continued festival announcements and schedule updates.

ABOUT GHOSTLIGHT CREATIVE PRODUCTIONS

Ghostlight Creative Productions is a Detroit-based, full service production company specializing in the creation of original film, theatrical, and performance content. Ghostlight offers high end, wrap- around event production services at a Broadway calibre that uplifts the underrepresented, and tells stories that are both compelling and complex.

For more information, please visit: www.ghostlightinc.com

ABOUT NICELY THEATRE GROUP

Nicely Theatre Group is a professional, non-profit theatre company dedicated to increasing public access to live theatre with affordable, diverse performances. Our productions will be inclusive and representative of our community while growing and supporting the arts in metro Detroit. For more information, please visit: www.nicelytheatregroup.org

ABOUT BLACKBOARD PLAYS

Since 2008, Blackboard Plays has been devoted to Black Playwrights throughout the African Diaspora. Blackboard Reading Series was incubated @ Nancy Manocherian's the cell in Chelsea's Manhattan as a resident series for 10 years, before making their new physical home pre-pandemic in The Mary Rodgers Room at The Dramatists Guild in 2018. Feature Readings and Community Nights are two ways that Blackboard supports the development of new work by Black Playwrights. Since 2020, Blackboard has been in partnership with the Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL) to produce the Black Motherhood and Parenting New Play Festival, supporting the work of Black artists with Families and their stories. Blackboard was founded by Garlia Cornelia Jones. www.blackboardplays.com