WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Plays, poetry and films are among the highlights as the National Black Theatre Festival returns to Winston-Salem.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that the festival features dozens of stage and screen celebrities. At the festival, theater companies showcase their dramas, comedies and musicals for a national audience, which can result in bookings or backers.

Organizers chose this year’s 40-plus new works and classics from nearly 150 submissions. Each will be presented multiple times over six days, bringing total performances to more than 140.

This 13th biennial festival opens today, Monday, July 29, with a gala dinner, awards presentation and performance of “The Eve of Jackie: A Tribute to Jackie Wilson.”

The Black Ensemble Theater of Chicago will present another musical, “The Marvin Gaye Story.”

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