Where: University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Weber Fine Arts Building, Room 006, 6505 University Drive South
When: 7:30 p.m. tonight through Saturday.
Tickets: $8 all seats, or $6 with a donation of canned food.
Information: 402-350-8871
What began as college students looking for a summer theater project has become something more.
The Collective Unconscious Theatre, which bills itself as theater by students, for students, will present an original script about the homeless as its first production.
“The Invisibles,” written by University of Nebraska at Omaha creative writing student Joe Fogarty, opens tonight.
Fogarty, who began acting in area theaters a year ago, said the Collective Unconscious wants to entertain but also inspire people to think about issues that need attention. Another goal, he said, is to keep theater accessible to those with little income. Low costs allow low ticket prices: $8 or, with a donation of canned food, $6.
Julia Hinson, a graduate student at UNO who is directing the play, said students crave works with a social conscience.
Fogarty, 24, used the play “A Time to Burn” by Charles Mee as an inspiration. Mee encourages using his scripts as royalty-free inspiration.
“I used Mee’s basic shell of homeless people living in a warehouse, and I also looked at (Russian playwright) Maxim Gorky’s ‘The Lower Depths,’ which has great characters but not much plot,” Fogarty said.
He researched issues involved with homelessness, such as drug addiction, mental illness and joblessness.
“I wanted the characters to be human, not caricatures,” he said. “I work at the VA Hospital, so I get to see the more human side, to hear their stories. We’re talking about regular people who make a mistake here or there and end up in a situation they can’t get out of.”
“The Invisibles” is a 75-minute play with no intermission. Fogarty said the Collective Unconscious could become a year-round theater and has already reached beyond its core group of students.
Contact the writer:
444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com
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