Spectral Frequencies

Event Date: 

Tuesday, February 22, 2022 - 7:00pm to Thursday, February 24, 2022 - 7:00pm
Friday, February 25, 2022 - 2:00pm
Friday, February 25, 2022 - 10:00pm
Saturday, February 26, 2022 - 1:00pm to Sunday, February 27, 2022 - 1:00pm
Saturday, February 26, 2022 - 7:00pm

Event Date Details: 

FEB 22 - 24 & 26, 2022 / 7 pm

FEB 25, 2022 / 2 pm

FEB 25, 2022 / 10 pm

FEB 26 - 27, 2022 / 1 pm

Event Location: 

  • Performing Arts Theater

Event Price: 

PRE-SALE

$13 - UCSB Faculty, Staff, Alumni & Students, Seniors, Children

$17 - General Audience

DAY OF

$15 - UCSB Faculty, Staff, Alumni & Students, Seniors, Children

$19 - General Audience

Buy Tickets

For more info on tickets and seating, click here.

  1. About the play
  2. Director's bio
  3. Q&A with director
  4. Checklist
  5. Program
  6. Media
  7. Gallery
  8. COVID-19 Policy

devised and directed by Jo Palazuelos-Krukowski

About the play

A ghostly tapestry of Australian aural dramas brought to life for the stage, Spectral Frequencies is a wondrous amalgam of scary stories showcasing the island continent's rich legacy of twentieth century horror radio.

Director's bio

Jo Palazuelos-Krukowski is a doctoral candidate in theatre at UC Santa Barbara 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. Jo has had the pleasure of directing Shakespeare in the Park with Isla Vista Arts and theatre for youth with Nuestra Voz. She is honored to share this tract of radio’s ghostland and dreamland with all of you. 

Q&A with the director

Q: What motivated you to tackle this project and work on such a unique subject as ghost stories of Australian radio?
 
JPK: My graduate research centers on the ghost in performance and how artists often use the idea of the ghost to address sites of cultural tension. It's a dreaming awake of our greatest fears. I remember buying Halloween tapes as a kid from Tower Records in the middle of the summer, then listening to actors perform Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne on a pink cassette player. I was spellbound. Ghost stories convey elusive truths about the communities who tell them. The horror radio play is a technological extension of the folktale: it's a campfire story told wide enough to blanket a nation. Discovering the archives of Australian horror radio on a chance trip to Melbourne felt like I had found buried treasure. 
 
Q: How is the rehearsal process going?
 
JPK: It's lovely to be back in the room with our actors and crew. I'm stunned on a daily basis with their level of commitment to bringing every wild element of this show to life.
 
Q: What can you tell us about the cast and/or artistic team?
 
JPK: These actors are wonderful, and so is our design team. I'll say "Look, I have this zany idea, and I'm pretty sure it's impossible-" and everyone at the production meeting will say in unison - "Oh no, we're definitely doing that." I feel lucky to be working with the people I'm with on this play. 
 
Q: Have you been enjoying directing your own devised project or that has brought its own challenges you didn't predict?
 
JPK: I started doing theatre 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. We were used to doing everything ourselves - writing, acting, directing - so it was good practice for a project as dynamic as this one. There's something special about taking decades-old stories with enduring themes and sharing them with contemporary audiences. It's been a joy. 
 
Q: What would you like to achieve with this project? What would you like for the audience to take home with them?
 
I would like for more people to discover how much fun mid-century horror radio is, and especially how skillfully made Australian radio is. There was a huge demand for radio content within Australia itself, as well as a significant demand for Australian content from other Commonwealth countries (Australian radio content was often considered one of the only alternatives to BBC programming at the time). Australia had relatively fewer writers, actors, and producers to put these radio shows together as compared to Britain and America, who had five to fifteen times the population size. This made the radio creative teams in Australia very, very good, because these teams were putting out so much material so regularly, and so quickly. A radio play that would have taken the BBC two days to record would have been knocked out in four hours in Australia. There's a unique artistic sensibility in these aural plays - the humor, the playful irreverence, the dramatic twists - the skill in their voices reverberates across time. It's just magic.

Performance checklist

  • BRING THE PROOF OF VACCINATION AND ID OR NEGATIVE PCR TEST TAKEN IN THE LAST 72h OR SHOW THE GREEN BADGE 
  • BRING AND WEAR A MASK
  • COME EARLY FOR COVID COMPLIANCE CHECK (THERE IS NO LATE SEATING)

Program

To download the Spectral Frequencies program, please click HERE.

To view the program online, please click on program image page below.

Media

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.

- Noozhawk Preview Article

Gallery

photo by Fritz Olenberger

photo by Fritz Olenberger

photo by Fritz Olenberger

photo by Fritz Olenberger

COVID-19 Policy

Proof of up-to-date vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result must be presented for entry. "Up-to-date" means an individual has received all recommended COVID-19 vaccines, including any booster dose(s) when eligible. (More information about up-to-date vaccination is available at the CDC WEBSITE.) Vaccine verification documentation will be required upon arrival, along with government-issued photo ID. Negative COVID-19 test results must be from a PCR test performed by a state-approved provider administered no more than 72 hours prior to the performance. (Rapid or Antigen tests are not accepted as a proof for entry.) This vaccine requirement also applies to university students, staff, and volunteers.

Proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 PCR tests can be supplied upon arrival to the venue in several ways:

  • Physical vaccination card or negative COVID-19 PCR test paperwork and a photo ID.  

  • Photo of your vaccination card or negative COVID-19 PCR test through your smartphone and a photo ID. (Guests younger than 18 may use a school photo ID.)

  • Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record:  HTTPS://MYVACCINERECORD.CDPH.CA.GOV/

  • Green UCSB COVID-19 Clearance Survey Badge.

Masks must be worn at all times in our indoor venues. We highly recommend that everyone onsite wears N95, KN95, KF94, or FFP2 masks, as they have been shown to be some of the most effective at protecting against COVID-19 transmission. If these masks are not available, double masking is strongly recommended. Patrons must bring and wear their own face coverings that fully cover both the nose and mouth or use one provided by the department as available. Face shields and/or goggles with a mask are acceptable, but are not acceptable on their own. Masks are required at all times in the lobby, restrooms, and in the venues during performances.

Masks during outdoor performances is highly encouraged.

A note about our venues: All buildings on campus have been evaluated by UCSB Design, Facilities & Safety services in consultation with campus and outside experts, and ventilation meets standards defined by the California Department of Public Health and Cal/OSHA. Our Facilities Management colleagues have sought to maximize building ventilation and filtration levels wherever possible, consistent with best industry practices.

The department will continue to share safety updates by email, social media, and through our website as the 21-22 events continue. If you are feeling under the weather, please stay home and continue regular handwashing and hand sanitizing. Thanks for being a partner with the campus community to make our events accessible and safe.

CA Dept of Public Health Vaccination site: HTTPS://WWW.CDPH.CA.GOV/PROGRAMS/CID/DCDC/PAGES/COVID-19/COVID19VACCINES.ASPX

CA Dept of Public Health Testing site: HTTPS://WWW.CDPH.CA.GOV/PROGRAMS/CID/DCDC/PAGES/COVID-19/TESTING.ASPX

 

 

 

The department's productions are not targeted to children. | Please contact 805-893-3022 with special needs.
Season schedule subject to change.