The UCSB Department of Theater and Dance will present “Spectral Frequencies,” a new play devised and directed by graduate student Jo Palazuelos-Krukowski.
A ghostly tapestry of Australian aural dramas brought to life for the stage, “Spectral Frequencies” is an amalgam of scary stories showcasing the island continent’s rich legacy of 20th century horror radio. The show runs Feb. 22-27 in the Performing Arts Center, with special Friday performances at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Palazuelos-Krukowski is a doctoral candidate in theater at UCSB, specializing in the cross-cultural ghost in performance. She has worked as a producer for the Moth and a consultant at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her research is published under the Methuen Drama imprint at Bloomsbury.
Palazuelos-Krukowski has directed Shakespeare in the Park with Isla Vista Arts, and theater for youth with Nuestra Voz.
The idea for the show comes from Palazuelos-Krukowski’s research, which has focused on the ghost in performance, and how artists often use the idea of the ghost to address sites of cultural tension — the dreaming awake of our greatest fears.
Ghost stories convey so many elusive truths about the communities who tell them, and the horror radio play is a technological extension of the folktale: it’s a campfire story told wide enough to blanket a nation. Palazuelos-Krukowski said that discovering the archives of Australian horror radio on a chance trip to Melbourne felt like she had found buried treasure.
As a deviser and director, she describes working on the project as “loving every minute of it.”
“I started doing theater in earnest in South Korea with the ex-pat community there, putting up plays on a shoestring budget in the basements of dance clubs in Itaewon,” she said. “We were used to doing everything ourselves — writing, acting, directing — so it was good practice for a project as dynamic as this one.
“And it’s really nice to be able to take decades old-stories, adapt them for contemporary audiences, hear those adaptations performed, and then make those adaptations stronger. It’s just been a joy.”
Join the UCSB Department of Theater and Dance in this unique journey through the area of Australian horror stories. Visit theaterdance.ucsb.edu for current COVID-19 protocols as they are changing rapidly. More information and tickets available at UCSB Theater and Dance box office, by phone at 805-893-2064, and online at www.theaterdance.ucsb.edu.
Tickets prices:
Pre sale: $13 for UCSB faculty, staff, alumni and students, seniors, children; $17, general audience.
Day of: $15 for UCSB faculty, staff, alumni and students, seniors, children; $19, general audience.