OO Angels
Presented and Commissioned by Luminato - 2019
Luminato is Toronto's international arts festival and one of the preeminent arts festivals in North America, having commissioned over 100 new works of art, with more than 3,600 performances featuring 15,000+ artists from over 40 countries.
Luminato est le festival international d’arts de Toronto et un des festivals d’arts majeurs en Amérique du Nord, ayant commandé plus de 100 nouveaux œuvres d’art, et qui a présenté plus de 3 600 spectacles mettant en vedette 15 000+ artistes de plus de 40 pays.
Lead Funders
This is one of the 200 exceptional projects funded through the Canada Council for the Arts' New Chapter initiative. With this $35M initiative, the Council supports the creation and sharing of the arts in communities across Canada.
Developed with support from the National Arts Centre's
National Creation Fund
Lead Donor
Renette and David Berman
Additional Funders
Also Generously Supported by
Obeah Opera is supported by the Harbourfront Centre Performing Arts Technical Residency Program
Thank You
We would like to thank all the artists, makers, mentors and teachers throughout the entire 10 years who have lent their talent, ideas, and spirit to Obeah Opera over its development.
The Luminato presentation would not have been possible without the help of: Oliver Beecher, Nathalie Bonjour, Isabella Carelli, Andrew Clemens, Erika Connor, Greg Chambers, Isolde Pleasants-Faulkner, Djanet Sears, Don Shipley, Alex Gilbert and Ryerson Theatre School, Ming Wong and Canadian Stage, Toronto Dance Theatre, Winchester Street Theatre, Young People's Theatre.
Nicole especially would like to thank and acknowledge her family: Asah Brooks, Andenaya Brooks, Graham Clarke, Charmaine Headley, and Asante Massawa.
Produced by Asah Productions
Asah Productions embodies the commitment to develop and create stories substantiated in diversity - namely stories from the Black diaspora. We define ourselves as 'storytellers' giving the sanction to model different artistic mediums in expressions of these stories. Approaches experimented with include but not limited to: music (composing and performing), the performing arts (theatre, dance, musical theatre, opera), film and video, and community activism within art. The company was created specifically to take on special projects that require the fusion of various artists' multiple talent towards the creation, development and completion of niche works of Black or diverse Canadian artists with distinct voices and works that are usually not developed or promoted in the mainstream. Our ultimate aim in these creative pursuits is to ensure that works are propelled into acclaim and boost accessibility to a wide audience while standing on the shoulders of its creative 'supporters'.
Its founder and director is Nicole Brooks. Her extensive accomplishments include: filmmaker, director, performer, singer, playwright, composer, curator, teacher and 'art-ivist. Brooks has devoted over 15 years producing innovative content (for stage and screen), with a focus on narratives that illuminate the peoples of the African Diaspora. In 2012 Brooks officially added playwright to her lists of talent. Her debut theatrical work Obeah Opera - which she created, wrote, composed and performed in has been staged in various incarnations from festivals to staged workshop productions in Toronto between 2009 - 2014. Honoured with a Dora nomination in 2012 and with continued development thereafter, a new visioned Obeah Opera was presented in July 2015, a prestigious commission from the cultural arm of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am / Para Pan Am Games. The growth of this special works continues with the ultimate and final version to be mounted as part of the Luminato Festival roaster in 2019 with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts Canada 150 grant.