In recognition of its 10th anniversary, UCSB’s Launch Pad series, which gives playwrights the space to create new work for the audience’s benefit, has brought in multiple award-winning playwright Yussef El Guindi, the British transplant whose plays have long documented the immigrant experience both in America and the UK.
“The Talented Ones,” which opens this Thursday for a five-show run, is a play in progress, but this is no table read. Launch Pad gives playwrights much more.
In 2010, when Jerry Pearson stepped down as artistic director of Santa Barbara Dance Theater, UCSB’s in-residence modern professional dance company, there was a sense that perhaps the institution wouldn’t continue. For 20 years Mr. Peason had put such a personal stamp on the company that filling his shoes felt daunting. But two years later, Christopher Pilafian, a member of the dance faculty at UCSB since 1990, privately premiered an introductory glimpse into the new-look SBDT, with a piece called “Leap of Faith.”
“It reflects more about my situation and attitude and less about the overall subject matter of the piece,” he says now. “It’s the reality behind the situation of the piece.”