The UCSB Department of Theater & Dance will present the world premiere of Entangled, written by contemporary American playwright Lila Rose Kaplan and directed by UCSB faculty member Risa Brainin, as part of the Launch Pad program on the UCSB campus. Performance dates are March 1-10 in the Hatlen Theater.
The new fall term is starting at Twins Academy, a boarding high school for exceptional twins. The school’s dance instructor, Leigh, is not happy to learn that her long-estranged twin sister, August, is returning to teach physics at the academy they founded together 25 years ago.
August’s eccentric lesson on entanglement (a term used in quantum theory to describe the way that particles of energy/matter can become correlated to predictably interact with each other regardless of how far apart they are) — including requiring her students to stop bathing — pulls the institution’s students into the family rift.
In a school setting both unusual and universal, Entangled examines the highs and lows of breaking apart and coming back together again.
The performance schedule is as follows: previews at 8 p.m. March 1-2; opening night at 8 p.m. March 3; talk-back with Kaplan after the matinee at 2 p.m. March 4; and 8 p.m. March 8-10.
In 2010, Kaplan was the first playwright-in-residence at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at UCSB. She teaches and is an artist-in-residence at UCSB and Westmont College.
Under the direction of Brainin, the Entangled cast includes UCSB actors Andrew Fromer (as Cold War), Hollie Sokol (as MIT), Brittany Carriger (as Fame), Chase O’Donnell (as Bunhead), Nico Kiefer (as Barista), Garrett Ward (as Max) and UCSB faculty member Anne Torsiglieri (as Leigh/August). Guest artists Nayna Ramey designs the set, Devon Painter designs the costumes and Michael Klaers designs the lighting. Another guest, Brad Carroll, composes original music for the world premiere production.
Tickets for Entangled, in sale now, cost $13 to $17. Call 805.893.7221 or click here to order online.
Patrons with special needs because of a disability should call the department at 805.893.3022. The department’s productions are not targeted to children.
— Eric Mills is the senior public events manager for the UCSB Department of Theater & Dance.












