Welcome to LAUNCH PAD...
It is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of our dear friend and passionate arts lover, Jan O’Dowd.
Don and Jan O’Dowd have been devoted supporters and friends of the UCSB Theater and Dance Community
for many, many years. We came to know Jan as a warm, generous, caring, loyal and insightful person who we
considered an important member of our LAUNCH PAD family.
We are incredibly grateful to have known Jan, and will miss her so very much. Our hearts go out to Don and the
whole O’Dowd family.
Rest in peace dear Jan.
“May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!"

She and Don traveled to Colorado to see James Still's Appoggiatura
at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in 2015.

take their permanently-reserved front row seats.
Forever in our hearts...
A Letter from our Artistic Director...
BLACK LIVES MATTER
The Department of Theater and Dance and LAUNCH PAD continue to stand with the Black community. We commit to doing our part to support and lift up Black voices through the art we create, the scholarship we provide, and the teaching we impart.
We started LAUNCH PAD in 2005 and are proud to have supported so many great playwrights and plays on their journey from incubation to professional world premiere. And we know we can do better. We make an ongoing commitment to honor and amplify BIPOC voices through workshops, readings, and preview productions.
We are meeting the challenges of 2020 through our rich tradition of innovation and collaboration. Together with UCSB's AMPLIFY, the National New Play Network, and the UCSB Initiative for New and Reimagined Work, we will present the BIPOC Reading Series Festival. Play selection is underway for this new series, to be presented in April 2021.
"Shanghai" by Linda Alper is our Preview Production for the 2020-2021 academic year. The concept of the “Preview Production” is unique in American theater: a fully realized production of a new play without the pressures of the commercial world; the play stays in previews throughout the run of the show, allowing the writer to continue revising as the piece evolves through performance. The combination of our talented students, faculty, and professional guest artists working side by side makes for a rich experience for all.
We are excited to have you join us for these fresh, timely, provocative, and entertaining new plays. Be there from the beginning, and you can say “Hey! I saw that play at UCSB before anyone else.”
- Risa Brainin, Artistic Director
In The News...
The November 2020 performance of WIlliam Davies King's
Collections of Nothing Enough is Enough is now available for viewing!
Please click here to watch this timely and poignant new play.
LAUNCH PAD playwright, James Still, wins the 2020 Indiana Authors Award!
James Still’s trilogy The Jack Plays is the winner of the 2020 Indiana Authors Award in the Drama category! The plays in the trilogy are The House That Jack Built, Appoggiatura, and Miranda.
Every two years, the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards honor the best books written by Indiana authors in eight categories. Established in 2009, these awards celebrate Indiana writers and shine a light on Indiana’s rich and diverse literary programming.
We are proud to have developed Appoggiatura through a LAUNCH PAD Preview Production in 2013.
Congratulations, James!
A scene from our 2013 Preview Production of Appoggiatura by James Still.
Cast: Annie Torsiglieri, Irwin Appel. Also featured: Andrea Barborka, Chris Costanzo,
Ian Elliot, Sophie Hassett, Dominic Olivo, Julian Remulla, and Sachi Tanaka.
Dramatic Publishing announces the publication and exclusive licensing of LAUNCH PAD’s Alone, Together Festival of short plays and monologues!
If you are interested in licensing the Alone, Together compilation,
please contact CustomerService@dpcplays.com or visit their website.
Upcoming Events...
Details coming soon!
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Take a moment to flip through the LAUNCH PAD brochure!