The Santa Barbara Independent dedicated a significant part of its Thanksgiving issue to local heros, "Santa Barbara’s COVID Warriors." One of the recognized local heroes is the production staff of the UCSB Department of Theater and Dance.
With the only Bachelor of Fine Arts program in theater and dance in the University of California system, UCSB attracts students who want conservatory training at a Research I university. As a result, the pressure to put them on a secure career path in a notoriously competitive profession is enormous. When the pandemic arrived in March, the department had just finished a triumphant run of Molière’s Tartuffe, exactly the kind of stylish and challenging mainstage production that cements the institution’s reputation alongside the likes of Yale, Northwestern, and Carnegie Mellon. Then, quicker than you can say “scene,” the whole live theater operation had to shut down.
Knowing that they only had one chance to salvage senior year for an entire crop of BFA students, the faculty and production staff flew into action. Production Manager Daniel Herrera, Costume Shop Manager Denise Umland, Cutter and Draper Lillian Hannahs, and Scenery and Props Manager Devin Gee started making masks and other personal protective equipment. Professor Risa Brainin then put out a call to the playwrights who participated in the school’s new play development program, Launch Pad, and soon 61 actors and 23 directors were in action on Zoom in a marathon of new works called Alone, Together. Lighting and Sound Supervisor Mark Williams, Senior Scene Technician Sandarbh Tripathi, Community Relations Specialist Una Mladenović, and Chief Administrative Officer Eric Mills hit the ground running, and within weeks, a new season, and a new medium for theater was born. Next came The Spotlight Project, a Launch Pad Summer Reading Series, and the monumental mash-up of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra known as Immortal Longings, all of them online, and all of them powered by the production team’s determination to do everything possible to support their students.
To read a full story, please click HERE.
