Mount Obelus Sanctuary for Creatives

In Development | 8 actors

Mount Obelus Sanctuary for Creatives follows eight characters spanning generations at a remote writers’ retreat in the Alberta Rocky Mountains, each seeking renewal, connection, and the thrill of possibility. At first, the retreat promises just that. But as the days unfold, creative exploration shifts toward the uncanny, and the act of creation summons the very ghosts they’d hoped to escape. Each writer is forced to confront not only the stories they want to tell, but the ones that have been haunting them all along.


Development / Presentation History

Development / Presentation History

May 2026 — Development: Banff Playwrights Lab at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (Banff, AB)

Led by faculty: Keith Barker, Colleen Murphy, Yvette Nolan, Mike Payette, Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, Emma Tibaldo, and International Playwright in Residence Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Photo by Rita Taylor

Photo by Rita Taylor

April/May 2026 — Excerpt Reading: Under the Umbrian Sun, A Reading Series of Scenes from the 2025 La MaMa Umbria International Playwright’s Retreat at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (New York, NY)

Lilah: Claudia Thiedmann
Gabe: John Gionis
Quinn: KJ Stewart
Fred: Christopher Randolph

From left to right: KJ Stewart, John Gionis, Amanda Samuelson, Christopher Randolph, Claudia Thiedmann