What's Current in

Theater and Dance

Dolly Parton the icon with platinum blond hair helmet, blue eye shadow and yellow chiffon dress
Photo Credit
Harry Langdon; Copyright Rock Negatives / MediaPunch 2026
Dolly Parton in 1977

We’ll always love Dolly Parton, Dollyologist explains

Read Article

A white building with blue steeples and red doors lit up at night
Photo Credit
Courtesy Ensemble Theatre Company
The New Vic Theatre in downtown Santa Barbara

UCSB’s LAUNCH PAD, Ensemble Theatre Company partner on new play readings at the New Vic
scene from ucsb student theatrical production of animal farm
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
Scene from UCSB Department of Theater and Dance production of "Animal Farm," February 2026

UCSB student-produced plays collect theater awards
A women in a black sweater and pink top sits on a chair, pointing, as another women in jeans with long grey hair looks her direction
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
Playwright Melinda Lopez, left, with director Risa Brainin, during a rehearsal of "Standing Still."

Time to roll up your yoga mat and take a stand
four dancers with flowy yellow skirts
Photo Credit
Stephen Sherrill
"We Were Light" by Annalise Evans, UCSB Dance Company

UCSB Dance Company to debut ‘Convergence’ before European tour
Four adults in farmers clothes, their faces lit, look up at a foreboding figure in a mask
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
The allegory that is 'Animal Farm' examines the perils of unchecked power and privilege, the use of words as a political weapon, and revolutions that erode into regimes not unlike those they overthrew.

UCSB theater students take on Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm,’ a fable that still bites
Seven women in business attire stretching the arms forward with the mouths open
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
Selina Fillinger’s “POTUS” has been one of the most produced American plays of the past few years, including a hit production on Broadway

When the president loses it, it’s women to the rescue
modern dancers with arms and legs intertwined
Photo Credit
Fritz Olenberger
UCSB's Santa Barbara Dance Theater

Santa Barbara Dance Theater’s FORUM explores connection and collaboration
group of people in whimsical costumes on beach at sunset
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
UCSB's Naked Shakes

Naked Shakes marks 20th anniversary with Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’
Women in bright colored dresses on stage with a blue background
Photo Credit
Luca Meyers
A play about young women on the cusp of their teenage years, “Dance Nation” portrays their conflicting impulses to stand out and blend in.

UCSB stages ‘Dance Nation,’ a play about ambition, competition and coming of age
A large group of people gathered shoulder to shoulder on a theater stage
Photo Credit
Courtesy LAUNCH PAD
The Amplify Festival brings together veteran and emerging artists to workshop news plays and present public readings.

LAUNCH PAD Amplify Festival pairs student artists with professional playwrights
Two people have a discussion on a stage
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
Risa Brainin, right, on stage with a student actor during rehearsals for LAUNCH PAD’s production of “Strange Birds”

An intense thriller with feminist overtones
Three actors on a stage in colorful makeup and costumes for The Threepenny Opera
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
UC Santa Santa Barbara Department of Theater and Dance is mounting a new production of 1928 play “The Threepenny Opera”

A bracingly contemporary century-old masterpiece
Subscribe to Theater and Dance