BWW Preview: LAUNCH PAD Summer Series Presents New Work

One of my favorite programs in the Santa Barbara theatre-sphere is UCSB's Launch Pad workshop for new plays. Launch Pad provides playwrights the occasion to see and hear their work come to life off of the page, and it gives theatre students superb opportunity to hone their performance skills while still experiencing the freedom of exploration that may not necessarily be afforded them when working on a more defined production. As well, students get the chance to try other theatrical production roles, including those of designers, dramaturges, and stage managers. The benefits of these workshops are invaluable for all involved, and the readings, on August 6th, August 13th, and August 20th, are an interesting experience for the viewer, who gets to see a work-in-progress taking shape.

This summer's series includes:

The A Train by Anne Torsiglier--August 6th
Directed by Risa Brainin

Risa Brainin directs local theatre artist and Associate Professor (UCSB, Dept. of Theatre and Dance) Anne Torsiglieri's most recent work, The A Train. Torsiglieri calls this play, a story about a woman, Amy, who learns that one of her young twins is autistic, "a very personal journey." Based on the playwright's own experience raising a child on the autism spectrum, Amy's story unfolds as she delves deeply into learning about the disorder. She meets people from various walks of life who have their own stories and experiences to share, and from their knowledge, Amy develops a more thorough understanding of and appreciation for the world in which those with autism exist. Told through music, puppetry, and recitation of primary-source narratives, Torsiglieri's aesthetic involves physical storytelling with an irreverent flair that elicits "a giggle and a squirm ... hence the puppets and songs." Based on extensive interviews, much of which is imbedded verbatim within the play's text, The A Train reflects the journey to deeper respect, acceptance, and understanding of those affected by autism.

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Too Much Water by KJ Sanchez--August 13th
Directed by Jenny Mercein

After losing a friend to mental illness and suicide over a decade ago, playwright KJ Sanchez admits, "I didn't have the practice or skills to write a play about all the questions swirling around my head and the feelings filling my heart, so I made a dance piece." An exploration of the social reactions to madness and suicide, the early version of Too Much Water was a movement-based production that incorporated text from Hamlet, Woolf, and Seneca in a recontextualization of the work of some of history and literature's disturbed characters (who eventually took their own lives).

Director Jenny Mercein, who was also involved with the original production, describes Too Much Water as a piece that utilizes devised theatrical techniques such as an extensive examination of viewpoints and physicality. The current Launch Pad reboot of the show follows Ophelia's ghost, along with the spirits of Meriwether Lewis and Virginia Woolf, as she revisits Elsinore. Inspiration for this play came from Sanchez's own experience playing Ophelia in a production of Hamlet; playing a character whose actions and dialogue are mostly reactionary to events that occur offstage continues to reverberate with her. "So much of what happens to Ophelia happens off-stage," Sanchez explains, "so in order to play her, I had to spend much of the show backstage in a dark corner getting myself into a very raw, vulnerable state to get ready for each scene." She discusses how Ophelia's desperation for connection to her murdered father fostered a moment of epiphany in terms of Sanchez's understanding of the character's diminishing sanity: "For my mad scene," Sanchez recalls, "I was wearing the coat and glasses Polonius was buried in, caked in mud. I imagined Ophelia at his fresh grave in the rain, digging up his remains, needing the comfort of his coat and glasses, needing to hang on to something, anything, because she was so terribly alone. To me, that's what real madness is--being completely, absolutely alone. Everyone else in the play is focused on Hamlet's madness, yet here is this young woman truly going insane and no one takes notice. She falls between the cracks while doing her best to do everything asked of her. She's a good girl and she breaks apart without anyone noticing... until it's too late."

Too Much Water deals with the repercussions of our generally unconstructive social attitude towards mental health and suicide, and uses aspects of documentary theatre to connect Ophelia's experience to that of the modern female. While the play comments on the concept of being a "good" girl/daughter/wife/partner within the framework of suffering from mental illness, still a delicate subject even to the modern sensibility, Mercein notes that the piece is intended to express light and joy despite the gravity of the subject matter. Be sure to stay for the Q&A after the reading to hear from the theatre makers!

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April 4, 1968 by James Still--August 20th

James Still, who is in his 18th year as Indiana Rep's playwright in residence, created April 4th, 1968 as part of a commissioned series of theatrical works that examine the history associated with the Midwestern American experience. To craft this "community listening project," Still interviewed over fifty people who were in Indianapolis on April 4th, 1968: the day MLK was assassinated. The concept of the play emerged from these personal accounts about life in Indiana in the late sixties. Among the details recounted by interviewees are individual anecdotes of Bobby Kennedy's Indianapolis campaign speech-turned-tragic announcement when, on April 4th, the candidate announced MLK's murder to the (largely African-American) crowd who'd turned out in support of the politician.

April 4, 1968 focuses on 16-year old Geneva Fields, a character who represents the youth experience. As Still explains, despite the fact that Geneva is too young to vote, the young woman still expresses a "developing social conscience and growing passion about what role she'll play in a changing world." While the social and political mood of the era--including growing support for the civil rights movement and public backlash against US military involvement in Vietnam--is an important aspect of the narrative backdrop for April 4, 1968, Still emphasizes that the play is not a docudrama. "It is not meant to be a 'one size fits all' play, not meant to be 'History' with a capital 'H'--but rather a personal and deep story about one family in particular and how they collided with the events surrounding that night in Indianapolis."

SUMMER LAUNCH PAD: NEW PLAYS IN PROCESS READING SERIES

August 6th, 13th, and 20th @ 7:30 PM
Theater/Dance-West Building, Room 1507
Admission is free

For further information, please visit the LAUNCH PAD website:
http://www.theaterdance.ucsb.edu/launchpad/

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