Invisible Boy

Jason in his bed.

In 2010 I wrote Invisible Boy, a play about surviving childhood sex abuse.  It was produced at Broom Street Theater in Madison, Wisconsin, where it ran for 18 performances over six weekends.  In 2011 it was produced at the North East School of the Arts in San Antonio, Texas.  Currently, it has been sent to several theaters to consider for production.

Below are some links to the video of the original production and articles that were written by  newspapers when it was produced.  The script is available on Amazon. The video has now been viewed more than 1,600 times since it was uploaded in late 2010.  Trigger Warning:  The play contains scenes depicting abuse.  Because the play is about survival, not about the abuse, the scenes of abuse are very stylized.  Still, parts of the play may be difficult to watch/read.  Please take care of yourself.

Invisible Boy video: http://vimeo.com/17470426

Invisible Boy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Boy-Callen-Harty/dp/1537627791/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491177845&sr=8-1&keywords=Invisible+Boy+Callen+Harty

Wisconsin Gazette article: http://www.wisconsingazette.com/on-stage/invisible-boy-visible-survivor.html

Quest article: http://www.quest-online.com/NewFiles/Quest_Arts17-16.html

Madison Times article: http://www.themadisontimes.com/news_details.php?news_id=532

Isthmus article: http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=30723

Capital Times article: http://host.madison.com/entertainment/arts_and_theatre/theatre/article_06397b09-1721-5ad9-be21-f3380c71b225.html

About Callen Harty

Originally from Shullsburg, Wisconsin Callen Harty is the author of four books and numerous published essays, poems, and articles. His most recent book is The Stronger Pull, a memoir about coming out in a small town in Wisconsin. His first book was My Queer Life, a compilation of over 30 years worth of writing on living life as a queer man. It includes essays, poems, speeches, monologues, and more. Empty Playground: A Survivor's Story, is a memoir about surviving childhood sex abuse. His play, Invisible Boy, is a narrative with poetic elements and is also an autobiographical look as surviving child sex abuse. All are available on Amazon.com (and three of them on Kindle) or can be ordered through local bookstores, He has written almost two dozen plays and 50 monologues that have been produced. Most of them have been produced at Broom Street Theater in Madison, Wisconsin where he started as an actor, writer, and director in 1983. He served as the Artistic Director of the theater from 2005-2010. Monologues he wrote for the Wisconsin Veterans’ Museum won him awards from the Wisconsin Historical Society and the American Association of State and Local History. He has also had essays, poems, and articles published in newspapers and magazines around the country and has taken the top prize in several photo contests. His writing has appeared in Out!, James White Review, Scott Stamp Monthly, Wisconsin State Journal, and elsewhere. He has had several essays published online for Forward Seeking, Life After Hate, and The Progressive. Callen has also been a community activist for many years. He was the co-founder of Young People Caring, UW-Madison’s 10% Society, and Proud Theater. He served as the first President of Young People Caring and as the Artistic Director for Proud Theater for its first five years. He is still an adult mentor for the group. In 2003 he won OutReach’s Man of the Year award for his queer community activism. OutReach is Madison, Wisconsin’s lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender community center. He also won a Community Shares of Wisconsin Backyard Hero award for his sex abuse survivor activism work. He has been invited to speak before many community groups, at a roundtable on queer community theater in New York City, and has emceed several events. In 2016, Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault named him their annual Courage Award winner for his activism, writing, and speaking on sexual assault.
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