In the beginning, it was just about getting Black playwrights on stage.
“That was the mission,” says S. Denise O’Neal, founder and executive director of Shabach Enterprise, the nonprofit behind the Fade To Black Play Festival — and now the new Fade To Black Arts Festival, opening on June 8 at the MATCH.
O’Neal started small. In 2013, she launched the play festival at the modestly-sized Obsidian Art Space and hoped for the best.
“It didn’t occur to me that we would sell out,” she says. “But we sold out every night for two years straight. People were hungry for it, and that’s when I realized this is something bigger than just putting up a few plays.”
The Fade To Black Play Festival became a fixture in Houston’s arts scene over the next 12 years, giving a platform to more than 400 Black playwrights and earning a loyal following.
And yet, O’Neal still found herself watching Houston’s Black artists leave the city in search of their big break. “A lot of artists come to me and say, ‘I’m leaving Houston because there are no opportunities for me here.’”
She sensed a solution after attending the International Black Theatre Festival several times — first as an artist, then as a visitor, and later as a teacher. She saw how the entire city rallied around the festival and asked herself: Why don’t we have anything like this in Houston?
Now, thanks to O’Neal and her collaborators, we do. This June, the inaugural Fade To Black Arts Festival, a week-long multidisciplinary celebration of African-American creativity, will join the Houston arts scene. The MATCH will serve as the hub for a packed week, but more than nine venues across Houston will come alive with performances, readings, film screenings, visual arts exhibits, and workshops.
“We have a huge variety of cultural performing arts, special events and community engagement and it’s all designed to celebrate us,” she says.
According to O’Neal, bringing a festival of this magnitude to fruition is “not for the faint of heart.”
“It has been a two-and-a-half year faith walk,” O’Neal says. “You have to build the right relationships. That’s part of the work nobody sees. Building partnerships, building trust, that’s how we got here.”
Those festival partners include the Alley Theatre, H-E-B, Kinder HSPVA, City of Houston, The Ensemble Theatre, Hobby Center for Performing Arts, Houston Ballet, Houston Symphony, and Stages.
Audiences can expect powerful works like Johnny B. Goode by Thomas Meloncon, as well as a showcase featuring the top ten 10-minute plays from Fade To Black’s first decade. In between performances, festival goers can attend poetry masterclasses led by artists like Se7en the Poet, catch film screenings curated by emerging Black filmmakers, or move their bodies at free morning workouts like Zumba, African and line dance sessions.
“You can go from a stage play to a performing arts class to a Zumba class in the same day,” O’Neal says.
Audiences can also expect to see top-tier talent across those multiple disciplines. “You’re going to see some of the most talented Black creatives from Houston and across the country. It’s high-level work.”
Phylicia Rashad, the Tony Award-winning actress and Houston native, serves as the official Festival Ambassador and will offer a master class for 20 students. NAACP Image Awards winner Malik Yoba and Greenleaf’s Jason Dirden will teach master classes as well.
The festival has something for the youth as well, with youth dance workshops hosted by the Houston Ballet and paid internships for local students, named in honor of Meloncon, offering hands-on experience behind the scenes, while a week-long Youth Arts Experience program welcomes aspiring artists ages 10-17.
In keeping with O’Neal’s commitment to accessibility, ticket prices are intentionally affordable, and the festival’s locations — centered near METRORail lines — were chosen with transit accessibility in mind.
Harris County Public Health will also partner with the festival to offer health screenings during the week.
More than entertainment, O’Neal emphasizes, the Fade To Black Arts Festival represents a cultural milestone. “We’ve never had something on this level that is Black-led and Black-curated in the heart of the city,” says O’Neal. “This is about claiming space in Houston.”
“I tell people all the time, this is not just a festival—it’s a movement.”
Fade To Black Arts Festival runs June 8- 4 at various locations, including the MATCH, 3400 Main. For more information, call 1-800-350-FADE (3233) or visit fadetoblackfest.com. $35 for performances, $20 for workshops, and $60 for masterclasses. Festival passes range from $150 to $600. Students, teachers, and seniors receive 10 percent discounts with ID.
