Celebrate Playwrights Unit and our 26th Season!
Our Playwrights Unit, Pierrette Walker, Keira Silverglen, and Shailyn Pierre-Dixon will be sharing excerpts from their work after 8-months of intensive development led by Toronto-based actor and writer Lisa Codrington.
Our 25/26 season was filled with love, legacy and creation. Celebrate this past season with us after our Playwrights Unit Showcase! Meet the playwrights, connect with fellow artists and theatre lovers, enjoy good vibes, food & drinks available for purchase.
More about the excerpts:
Amorphous by Keira Silverglen
Amorphous follows Seraphina Goldman, a young Black Orthodox Jewish woman, on the eve of her wedding. When three of her Black ancestors appear in her childhood home – summoned through a box of unsent letters – Seraphina is forced to confront the part of herself she’s long buried.
Brotherhood is Not my Kin by Shailyn Pierre-Dixon
ACAB. Pigs. KKK. Abusers. Brutalists. Trigger-happy babies. Rapists in uniform. Self-esteem issues. Mommy issues. Daddy issues. Racists. Hypocrites. Whiteness is rightness. Uniforms are blood. Back the blue is not for you. Diversity hire. Uncle Tom. Black Master. White man’s dog. It’s different. I’m different. I can save them. Let me help them. From the inside. I can change them. I believe. I love. I promise. Listen. Listen. I can. Oh. oh.
Confronting Blackness in places of authority and the exploitation of Black isolation from within.
When Widows Speak by Pierrette Walker
When Widows Speak is an invitation into the lives of three women navigating the impact and shifts following the loss of their partners. It is an invitation to sit with the nuances of grief, its discomforts, its humor and its transformative possibilities – whether we want to or not. It is a dance between reality and the metaphysical. When Widows Speak is dedicated to those who were ever made to feel “too much” for feeling love and its layers- what some call grief or loss, and what others call memory.
Introducing Autumn Taylor!
We’re excited to announce our new Canada Summer Jobs Art Administrator, Autumn Taylor!
Autumn Taylor (Ted Talk Host/The Bed) is excited to be making her Toronto Fringe 2026 debut. Originally from Montreal, she discovered her love of theatre while studying at Concordia University, where she developed a passion for acting and performance. Her theatre experience spans both classical and contemporary work, including playing Caliban in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Armande in Molière’s The Learned Ladies, and puppeteering in a stage adaptation of Lynda Barry’s The Freddie Stories. When not on stage, she can be found pretending to be an online influencer for her 300 Instagram followers, reading smut, unintentionally murdering plants, and adoring her only child—a cat named Luna.
Announcing our 26/27 Season!
This season may be one of our largest and most adventurous seasons to date.
From a subversive coming-of-age queer story in the American South, to a story of two brothers from a fishing town in Nigeria, to an intimate story about a Black family in Toronto, to a West African hair braiding store in Harlem – we are excited to shine a spotlight on diverse Black communities.
We hope these stories will inspire, make you laugh, make you think, move you, touch your soul and continue to shed new light to the breadth of our humanity.Now, more than ever, it takes a village to make great theatre and we are so are excited to work with all our partners. We are so grateful for your continued support and cannot wait to see you at theatre!
Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu, Artistic Director, Obsidian Theatre
Illustrations by Celeste Cole
Young, Gifted and Black Presents: Basbousa
Our Young, Gifted and Black cohort has been working really hard writing, directing, and designing, Basbousa!
Young, Gifted and Black Showcase
May 29, 2026- 7:30pm
May 30, 2026 – 2:30pm and 7:30pm
Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst St
As the April 2023 conflict breaks out in Sudan, Adama in Toronto makes urgent phone calls to her grandmother Rania living in Khartoum. Basbousa is a story about the recipes we inherit, the homes we carry within us, and the impossible choices families make in times of crisis.
Written and created by Abigail Whitney, Ghislan Sutherland-Timm, Nála Simone Lendor and Stephon Smith
Watch below to learn about Basbousa!
Photo of the YGB Cohort by Dahlia Katz
Video by Roya DelSol
Canada Summer Jobs – Arts Administrator
We’re hiring an Arts Administrator as part of the Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program! Join Toronto’s leading Black theatre company this summer.
- 8 week Contract
- Hybrid work environment
- Start Date: Monday, June 1, 2026
- End Date: Friday, July 24, 2026
- 35 hours a week, at $20/hour
- Must meet Canada Summer Jobs eligibility requirements
Applications are open until May 15, 2026, but we’ll be reviewing applications as they come in.
As part of the requirements under the Canada Summer Jobs program, the applicant must meet the following eligibility requirements, at minimum:
- Is between the ages of 18 – 30 at the start time of employment
- Be a Canadian Citizen, permanent resident, or someone to whom Refugee Status has been granted/conferred
- Have a valid SIN
- International students, and those who are here in Canada on a work, youth, or visitor visa/permit are not eligible
Skill Requirements:
- Ability to keep detail-oriented records.
- Exceptional people skills to deal effectively with different artists, audiences, and/or donors
- Proven writing skills for crafting compelling social media captions, website/newsletter content, and other communications
- Has the ability to learn how to use CRM systems (Societ Sumac), social media schedulers (Metricool) and email marketing platforms (Mailchimp)
- Shows initiative and is able to meet deadlines and handle concurrent projects, with a strong track record of fulfilling commitments
- Thrives working both independently and as a team member
- Demonstrates a high proficiency in Google Suite apps (Sheets, Docs)
- Familiarity with Mac operating systems
- Interest in and capacity to learn more about development, marketing, and administration
Major Responsibilities:
- Supporting the Artistic Producer with general administration and event planning for Playwrights Unit Showcase
- Collect statistics and testimonials to develop a final report for our Young, Gifted and Black and Playwrights Unit development programs
- Assist with organizing online files in our NAS Database System and Google Drive
- Assisting with data entry to maintain and update our donor files in our CRM System
- Write and coordinate donor recognition through phone calls, or mailing thank you letters
- Execute social media posts and email marketing campaigns
- Assist with regular website updates
- Other administrative and event support duties as needed
- Participate in weekly staff meetings
Black Out Night
May 8
An evening created by and for the Black community. A space to celebrate Black stories, artists, and audiences. It’s a night for Black theatregoers to come together and experience theatre through shared culture, joy, and connection.
Come early and stay late! Jam to beats played by DJ Me Time and enjoy live art by Elicser Elliot. We also have the Black Creation Market running from 3pm to 8pm. Light refreshments will also be provided post-show.
Grab your $40 ticket before we sell out!
Black Creation Market
May 2, 8 and 9 – 3pm to 8pm @ Soulpepper Theatre, 50 Tank House Lane
Discover your next favourite find at the Black Creation Market!
We’re bringing together an incredible lineup of local Black artisans for three days of shopping before the performance of How to Catch Creation by Christina Anderson.
Explore the unique creations of Black Artisans across skincare, fashion, books, beauty, and more!
Vendors are:
Acudj Creative Studio, Buna Sets, Crochet Gardens, Makeji, Essentials By Temi, Mimis Bonnets, Dreams of Africa, Nadia L. Hohn Books, Bontle By B and Shyne Body Butter
General Auditions
We are holding General Auditions for actors who are new to the profession, the city of Toronto, or have not auditioned for us in the past three years. We encourage submissions from Black artists of all backgrounds, lived experiences, ages, and gender identities.
Actors are asked to prepare two contrasting monologues from published plays, no longer than three minutes each. Actors may also optionally prepare one short acapella piece to demonstrate singing skill, no longer than two minutes.
Auditions will be held in-person in Toronto on May 19th and 20th.
Apply by April 27, 2026.
Only those selected will be contacted.
Black Creation Market: Call for Vendors
We are excited to host an artisan market featuring Black artists and artisans working across a myriad of artistic practices including photography, painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, crafts, and so on. Our Black Creation Market takes place at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts on May 2, 8 and 9, 2026.
Participation in the market is by invitation only and there are no vendor fees.
Young, Gifted and Black: Casting Call!
Obsidian Theatre will be holding auditions for the 25/26 Young, Gifted, and Black Showcase.
We are seeking submissions from Toronto-based performers for the following two (2) roles:
ADAMA (19 – Mid 20s)
A young Sudanese-Canadian woman of Nubian descent living in Toronto facing an unexpected pregnancy.
GRANDMA RANIA (40s-70s)
A Nubian-Sudanese grandmother living in conflict-torn Khartoum.
Performers submitting for ADAMA are asked to prepare the sides at this link. Performers submitting for GRANDMA RANIA are asked to prepare the sides at this link.
AUDITION DATES:
Auditions will be held in-person in Toronto April 9-10, 2026
PRODUCTION DATES:
Rehearsals, including tech: May 4 – 28, 2026
Presentations: May 29 – 30, 2026
SUBMISSION DEADLINE:
March 30, 2026
NO EMAIL SUBMISSIONS PLEASE.
We thank everyone for their interest, however, only those selected for an audition will be contacted. Due to the volume of submissions, we are not able to respond to inquiries about the status of your application.
If you have any questions or require accessibility accommodations with your submission, please contact danjelani ellis at op@obsidiantheatre.com