Obeah Opera was initially developed in Toronto, Ontario by b current as part of its rock.paper.sistahz Festival 2009 & 2010, in a workshop production in rock.paper.sistahz Festival 2011, and as part of its rAiz’n the Sun Program in 2011. An earlier version of Obeah Opera was first produced by b current and Theatre Archipelago in Toronto, Ontario, in February 2012 at the 918 Bathurst Centre for Culture with a cast of 15 received critical acclaim by both critics and audiences alike, along with a Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination in the 'Outstanding new Musical/Opera' category in May 2012. After attending the showcase and inspired by the work, Nightwood Theatre agreed to provide dramaturgical assistance in the fall of 2013 and Obeah Opera went back into intense development. A partnership was formed between Cultchahworks Arts Collective & Nightwood Theatre with a commission from the PAN AM/ParaPan American Games to premiere Obeah Opera in August 2015. Prior to the world premiere, a workshop production of the new work was presented in Nightwood’s Groundswell festival in September 2014 for five consecutive sold out performances to rehearse and test new material. A premiere of the newly developed work followed suit on August 4 - 8, 2015 with a limited 6 show run all of which were sold out and was met with double standing ovations for each and every performance.
In 2016/2017, Obeah Opera went back in development with the goal to mount Obeah Opera with a complete 20+ diverse female cast, fully executed music, dance and design to present in the 2018/2019 season with the additional goal to make it ‘tour ready’. Preceding the full run, Fall For Dance North Festival in October 2018 commissioned to showcase new dance numbers to a 6K audience. Obeah Opera’s 2.5 hour final incarnation was commissioned and had a 10 day successful run for its world premiere at Luminato Festival in June 2019 with the noted support from the Canada Council Canada 150 grant and the NAC – National Creation Fund among other supporters. With such a track record, the production in complete form with a fully fleshed out technical rider and score now sets its sights to tour both nationally and internationally with its first stop in South Africa.
