City: Omaha, NE

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (402) 341-2757

Address: 3225 California St.

Insider Pick:

Description: The Shelterbelt and SNAP! Productions together make some of the most risk-taking and challenging theater in Omaha. An intimate theater that places audience members a mere 15 feet from the actors, the Shelterbelt is located in the heart of central Omaha (conveniently next door to one of its more popular restaurants, California Tacos and More).The Shelterbelt opened in 1993 when a local playwright asked the owner of a local coffee shop (on the site of what’s now the theater) if he could produce a play in the space. The writer, Scott Working, produced the theater’s first production, V of Geese, in the space and at the same time founded the theater. Named after a row of trees that protect a farmer’s crops, the Shelterbelt has always aimed to create a sort of “safe space” for theater, and in 2001, it joined with SNAP! Productions to further that mission.SNAP! has a simple mission: to support those suffering from the AIDS virus and educate about support, programs, and acceptance of AIDS. To wit, the group’s first two performances were Bent, about a gay Jewish man sent to a concentration camp in Nazi Germany, and Jeffrey, a play about a young New York gay man who gives up sex only to meet the love of his life and decide if it’s worth risking AIDS. SNAP! continued from there, offering challenging, thought-provoking, and sometimes controversial theater for the masses. Recent renovations have improved lighting, sound, and rigging and added a cash bar. The theater remains one of the most intimate, open-minded art spaces in the city.