J. Omar Hansen

Omar is an award-winning playwright and was the recipient of the Idaho Fellowship for the Arts in 2012 for his contributions as a playwright/ composer. He has had plays produced all over the country, and has one play published thus far. Last year he had 8 different productions of his plays being performed.
Omar has run a successful children’s theatre for the past sixteen years. He is a proud member of Dramatists Guild, and is also an actor, novelist, children’s writer, and storyteller. He and his wife, Lori, are the co-founders of the Great Bear Folk Theatre, a storytelling theatre company.
His educational background includes a MA in Playwriting and Theatre History from Cal State, LA, an MFA in Playwriting and Theatre History from the University of Utah, and a PhD from Brigham Young...

Omar is an award-winning playwright and was the recipient of the Idaho Fellowship for the Arts in 2012 for his contributions as a playwright/ composer. He has had plays produced all over the country, and has one play published thus far. Last year he had 8 different productions of his plays being performed.
Omar has run a successful children’s theatre for the past sixteen years. He is a proud member of Dramatists Guild, and is also an actor, novelist, children’s writer, and storyteller. He and his wife, Lori, are the co-founders of the Great Bear Folk Theatre, a storytelling theatre company.
His educational background includes a MA in Playwriting and Theatre History from Cal State, LA, an MFA in Playwriting and Theatre History from the University of Utah, and a PhD from Brigham Young University in Theatre History and Playwriting. He is currently on faculty at BYU-Idaho.

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Scripts

Finding Ragnelle

by J. Omar Hansen

Cast Size
6—15
Genre
adventure,
drama,
fable/folktale,
fantasy,
musical,
period

Jamey Logan has no time for nonsense, magic or anything not practical. After all, life isn’t a fairy tale, and people don’t always live happily ever after. But when he finds himself magically transplanted to King Arthur’s court, he get caught up in the stories of love and loss. But is it too late to carry those lessons back to his own life? Rooted in the traditions of storytelling and classical theatre, “Finding...

Jamey Logan has no time for nonsense, magic or anything not practical. After all, life isn’t a fairy tale, and people don’t always live happily ever after. But when he finds himself magically transplanted to King Arthur’s court, he get caught up in the stories of love and loss. But is it too late to carry those lessons back to his own life? Rooted in the traditions of storytelling and classical theatre, “Finding Ragnelle” is a moving play about facing the things that hurt us and letting stories heal us.

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No longer available

by J. Omar Hansen

Cast Size
1
Genre
comedy

None

None

no longer available

by J. Omar Hansen

Cast Size
21—25
Genre
drama

none

none

Bielzy and Gottfried

by J. Omar Hansen

Cast Size
10—18
Genre
musical,
satire

What if God and the Devil joined forces and wrote a play? Lucius Bielzy and Joshua Gottfried, two old friends and theatre impresarios caught in an eternal love/hate relationship, rendezvous in a theatre to present a night of 5 short morality plays. Imagine a confused Adam and Pandora, a man claiming to be Joseph McCarthy, hoping to cast the first stone, a middle-aged woman in spiritual meltdown, bordering on...

What if God and the Devil joined forces and wrote a play? Lucius Bielzy and Joshua Gottfried, two old friends and theatre impresarios caught in an eternal love/hate relationship, rendezvous in a theatre to present a night of 5 short morality plays. Imagine a confused Adam and Pandora, a man claiming to be Joseph McCarthy, hoping to cast the first stone, a middle-aged woman in spiritual meltdown, bordering on the obscene, a modern-day Job caught in the battle over free will, and a dead man, unable to move on to his new future because he cannot face up to his past. A humorous and poignant look at mankind’s relationship to the cosmos.

Omar’s musical Bielzy and Gottfried was presented in July of 2014 as part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival and received a nomination for outstanding production of a Musical. One of the reviews said of that show, “a witty beginning, and a thought-provoking end, Bielzy and Gottfried proved to be a charming and meaningful piece which managed to make the Bible less dry and more dry-humored.” Other reviews of the show said, “a fascinating show that asks difficult questions” “good laughs, fun music, and thought provoking messages” “tugs at the audience’s heartstrings”.

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Clever Jack and the Pirates

by J. Omar Hansen

Cast Size
15—20
Genre
adventure,
comedy,
fable/folktale,
musical,
young audiences

Clever Jack loves Sari Farmer, but he’s the poorest boy in town and Mr. Farmer is against the match. Jack sets out with a horse, dog, cat and chicken to seek his fortune, so he can come home and marry Sari. But Willard, Mr. Farmer’s confidante and all around mean pig, follows him to thwart his plan. Can Jack steal the already stolen fortune from a band of misfit pirates? Will the animals get a new home? Will...

Clever Jack loves Sari Farmer, but he’s the poorest boy in town and Mr. Farmer is against the match. Jack sets out with a horse, dog, cat and chicken to seek his fortune, so he can come home and marry Sari. But Willard, Mr. Farmer’s confidante and all around mean pig, follows him to thwart his plan. Can Jack steal the already stolen fortune from a band of misfit pirates? Will the animals get a new home? Will Willard be recognized for the manipulative pig he is? “Clever Jack and the Pirates” is a rip-roarin’ good time of a musical adaptation of that classic folktale The Bremen Town Musicians.

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This Castle Needs a Good Scouring

by J. Omar Hansen

Cast Size
13—17
Genre
comedy,
farce,
musical

This romp through the Cinderella story features a Cinderella who would rather clean than go to the ball, a miserly king, and a fairy godmother on the verge of a breakdown.

This romp through the Cinderella story features a Cinderella who would rather clean than go to the ball, a miserly king, and a fairy godmother on the verge of a breakdown.

The Horrible Monster of Danky Swamp

by J. Omar Hansen

Cast Size
10
Genre
comedy,
melodrama,
young audiences

While being tormented by the evil witch Filangela Wantonlooper, and with the aid of their yeomanlike manservant, Angus Largehead, three young heroines, two scatterbrained and one smart, seek to find and conquer the horrible monster of Danky Swamp, since cattle, and eligible men of the matrimonial age, are missing.

While being tormented by the evil witch Filangela Wantonlooper, and with the aid of their yeomanlike manservant, Angus Largehead, three young heroines, two scatterbrained and one smart, seek to find and conquer the horrible monster of Danky Swamp, since cattle, and eligible men of the matrimonial age, are missing.