Notice Board

7:30 | 2:00 October 13 | October 9-13 | David Spinks Theatre

The first Drama Mainstage production of the 2018-2019 season opens with a unique collaboration between Calgary-based theatre company, Handsome Alice Theatre and the Department of Drama. inVISIBLE (Too), running October 9 – 13 at 7:30 pm nightly, and 2:00 pm on Saturday October 13 in the David Spinks Theatre, is an experience which gathers voices and stories, and shares them with an engaged audience on an intimate stage.

Initiator and coordinator of the uLethbridge production was Department of Drama faculty, Gail Hanrahan. “I saw the production of inVISIBLE in Calgary, and knew it would be perfect to bring to the U of L as part of our Mainstage season,” says Hanrahan. Facilitated by Handsome Alice Theatre’s creative team, which includes artistic director, Meg Farhall and Faculty of Fine Arts alumni, Makambe Simamba (BFA ’14) and Kathryn Smith (BFA ’12), inVISIBLE (Too) is the second iteration of this devised project.

“The inspiration behind [the first creation of] inVISIBLE, was to gather female voices to discuss the theme of feeling and being invisible in society,” says Smith. “It was created over the course of a year and a half and pulled members of Calgary’s arts and non-arts community to tell their stories. As the production took shape, it turned into an outlet for people as female identifying and non binary.”

inVISIBLE (Too) follows the same creation structure, but involved a much shorter time-frame and a slightly smaller cast. “It’s possible that this production will be even more intimate than our first creation,” says Simamba. “We will get to know more about the cast, and have honoured people’s preferred language, whether that’s speech, poetry, dance, music, or physical theatre.”

“This production is not a play, per se,” clarifies Simamba. “It’s a happening, an experience and an exploration of vulnerability. It’s an opportunity to bring together a group of people from many walks of life; to come together and to share stories that prioritize and honour our complexity, identity and authenticity as human beings. The intention, and part of the experiment, was to create a community between the artists creating the piece and our audience; to share in a format that honours the way communities can come together, to be present, and to share with one another.”

The audience is asked to come as they are, to experience an organic energy that changes from night to night. The set, designed by Bianca Manuel and lighting, designed by Alexandra Pritchard allows for further engagement and sense of community between actor and audience. The themes explored throughout the work are mature and raw, emotional and visceral.

Tickets for inVISIBLE (Too) are available at the University Box Office, Monday – Friday, 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm, or by calling 403-329-2616. Tickets are also available online: uLethbridge.ca/tickets. Tickets are $18 regular, $13 senior and alumni, $12 students. Seating is limited, and audiences are encouraged to purchase their tickets early.

*Seating is very limited. Reserve your tickets early!
* Mature Content