Third annual Obsidian Theatre Festival will have an expanded presence in Downtown Detroit

Since 2021, the Obsidian Theatre Festival has featured over 100 pieces of content dedicated to Black storytelling through theater, music, dance and other creative mediums. In its inaugural year, the festival was fully streamed online.

This year, the festival is adding in-person offerings at three locations in Downtown Detroit, including Marlene Boll Theatre at Downtown YMCA, The Chrysler Black Box at The Detroit Opera House and Cliff Bell’s. There will be cabaret performances, panel discussions, artist interviews and behind the scenes videos.

The festival begins Thursday, June 22 and ends on Sunday, June 25. Free tickets are available at their website.

Garlia Cornelia Jones is a Detroit native, the Director of Innovation and New Media at The Public Theater in New York, and the Senior Creative Producer of Obsidian Theatre Festival. John Sloan III is the Co-Executive Producer and Producing Artistic Director of Obsidian Theatre Festival. Jones and Sloan joined CultureShift to discuss how the festival is expanding its presence in Downtown Detroit, what we can expect from this year’s events and the importance of giving a platform to Black stories.

“You’re not coming to see a Black story, you’re not coming to see one or two, you’re coming to see a full spread… That’s how we learn about each other, and that’s how we learn about ourselves.” — John Sloan III, Obsidian Theatre Festival

Listen: The third annual Obsidian Theatre Festival will have an expanded presence in Downtown Detroit