The Last 7 Days

Obsidienne Obsurd by Dominic Saavedra (2025)

THE LAST 7 DAYS
Of OBSIDIENNE OBSURD
An Experimental Drag Concert

Friday, December 5th

ONE NIGHT ONLY!

@ The Henry J Kaiser Center for The Arts • 10 10th St, Oakland, CA

GET TICKETS NOW

$25 - $75 Sliding Scale • 10% off with discount code "OBSURD"

Audio Descriptive Services available for Visually Impaired Audiences!

THE LAST 7 DAYS

OF OBSIDIENNE OBSURD

is a multidisciplinary experimental performance that aims to queer classical concert conventions as well as elevate Drag performance out of the realm of nightlife and onto a large-scale symphonic stage. It tells OBSIDIENNE's personal story of gender transition alongside the migration story of their Chinese ancestors to America.

This new work includes a world premier of an original composition developed in collaboration with

Paul Wiancko

of the Kronos Quartet.

FEATURING

Drag Performers

Sassi Fran • Lola Ren • Cult Baby • Lisa Frankenstein

Musical Accompaniment

Debra Fong, Violin • Christopher Costanza, Cello

Drag, Viola, Costuming, Set Design, and Compositions by

OBSIDIENNE OBSURD

OBSIDIENNE OBSURD

by Dominic Saavedra (2025)

ABOUT THE ARTIST

@ob.world

OBSIDIENNE OBSURD is a Chinese-American genderless drag performance artist making and working in the Bay Area. OBSIDIENNE frequently moonlights as her human counterpart, 明聖 Ezra Costanza, who is an award-winning classical violist freelancing all across California.

The Last 7 Days of OBSIDIENNE OBSURD is part of Oaklash's Artist in Residency Program and is made possible with support from The Gerbode Foundation’s Special Award in the Arts for Music and The Kenneth Rainin Foundations' New & Experimental Works Program

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What’s the schedule for the night?

7PM - Red Carpet with Photographer Rachel Ziegler

Category is "Opera Opulence" - Come dressed to the 9s and have your photo taken!

7:45PM - Drag preshow featuring Lisa Frankenstein, Sassi Fran, Cult Baby, and Lola Ren

8:00PM - THE LAST 7 DAYS OF OBSIDIENE OBSURD (DAYS 1-4)

8:45PM - Intermission

9:00PM - THE LAST 7 DAYS OF OBSIDIENNE OBSURD (DAYS 5-7)

9:30PM - Post-show reception

What access accommodations will be provided?

PHYSICAL ACCESS

The Calvin Simmons Theater is newly renovated but also has some non-accessible quirks as a 100 year old historic venue. Balcony seating, for example, is only accessible by stairs so we’re offering a $25 discount code “EZACCESS” for wheelchair users, folx with limited stair mobility, and friends accompanying them so you can get a free upgrade to mezzanine or orchestra seating.

AUDIO DESCRIPTION

For blind and visually impaired audience members, Oaklash partners with Gravity Access Services to offer live audio description and haptic access tours on Friday, December 5th.

Audio description is a live audio track spoken by a professional audio describer to audience members with visual impairments through a wireless headset system. It provides clear and engaging descriptions of the meaningful visual details of a performance. Haptic access tours (20-30 minutes) are a live pre-show tour that allows patrons to experience—through touch and their own movement— the space, performers, costumes and objects in addition to key movement elements in the performance.

For more information, to book a spot in our 7PM Haptic Access Tour, or to reserve a headset please call 510.426.5376

LANGUAGE INTERPRETATION

There will be a printed libretto available with all of the songs and lyrics in the show translated in English.

We will not be providing ASL Interpretation. A significant portion of the show is instrumental and acoustic chamber music and many of the songs with lyrics are not in English, which makes ASL not ideal.

COVID PROTOCOLS

We will be enforcing masking for our audience at this event. KN95s will be provided, though we encourage you to bring your own. Our red carpet will take place on the outside of the venue for those who feel comfortable unmasking outdoors. There will also be refreshments and snacks offered – we encourage you to put your mask on as soon as you are done. We are partnering with Clean Air Network to ensure the air filtration of the space. Performers will be unmasked.

TRIGGER WARNINGS

The show is about death and dying and there will be some blood but nothing too overt - it's all very interpretive!

If you have other access needs, please let us know at oaklashfestival@gmail.com

How do I get tickets?

Click this link! >>

There’s no assigned seating for this show – tickets are being sold by section ($75 for orchestra, $50 for mezzanine, and $25 for balcony) – so we encourage you to arrive early and claim your seat before the show especially if you are coming with a big group!

Pre-sales are encouraged but walk ups are welcome!

Online tickets are being run by the team at the Kaiser Center for the Arts so unfortunately there are no NOTAFLOF online pre-sales available but you can use discount code “OBSURD” for 10% OFF at checkout.

We also have a limited amount of $5 tickets available to distribute among community that we’re prioritizing for queer and trans people of color – email us at oaklashfestival@gmail.com if you have financial barrier and want to attend.

Again, we’re not running online tickets - the HJK Center is - so if you have questions about your online registrations or need a refund for any reason, please fill out the GoFevo contact form here >>

All ages welcome!

How do I get there?

The Calvin Simmons Theater is located at 10 10th St in Oakland CA.

Parking in the lot of the HJK Center is $20 so we encourage you to rideshare or carpool. Use the 10th Street curb between Fallon St and East Drive for rideshare drop-off and pick-up.

The Lake Merritt BART Station is just .3 miles away, about a 7–10 minute walk. Exit toward 8th & Oak and head north to 10th Street.

If Driving: From I-880, take the Jackson St exit and follow signs toward 10th Street. Expect traffic around Lake Merritt.

We encourage you to arrive early to allow time for parking and entry!

Click Here for Directions >>

This sounds so cool! How can I support?

It’s a huge space so we’re gonna need a lot of volunteer ushers for the show as well as folx to help us set up and strike the event >> Sign up to volunteer here <<

Times are tough right now for our community and in addition to an amazing show, we really want this to be a huge celebration of what drag has been and what it can be in the future – leaving the next generation of emerging queer artists inspired for all the amazing things that they can and will create! We would love to have a full house to really make it a party and we can use all the help getting the word out – Liking, commenting, reposting, and sharing our posts with friends goes a long way!

Follow us on Substack and Instagram and brag to your friends that you got tickets to this one-night-only affair before they sell out!

Got any other questions? Email us at oaklashfestival@gmail.com >>

Oaklash is committed to a vision of cultural equity which we define as elevating, highlighting, and empowering marginalized populations who have been historically oppressed and overlooked. We rely on community support to make our programs possible and to create opportunities for queer and trans artists in the Bay Area.

Donate Here

Learn more about Oaklash's commitment to cultural equity

THE LAST 7 DAYS Of OBSIDIENNE OBSURD An Experimental Drag Concert

ABOUT THE ARTIST @ob.world

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What’s the schedule for the night?

THE LAST 7 DAYS
Of OBSIDIENNE OBSURD
An Experimental Drag Concert

ABOUT THE ARTIST

@ob.world