Santa Cruz Duo Brings Indie Theatre to Off-Broadway Stage
Table of Contents
- 1. Santa Cruz Duo Brings Indie Theatre to Off-Broadway Stage
- 2. Key Facts at a Glance
- 3. Evergreen Takeaways for Independent Theatre
- 4. What This Means for the Future of Indie Theatre
- 5. UCSC Alumna Background
- 6. UCSC Alumna Background
- 7. Reimagining Mother Courage for 2026
- 8. Gun‑Violence Debate Context (2026)
- 9. Critical Reception (First Week)
- 10. Key Themes & Audience Impact
- 11. Practical tips for Staging Politically Charged Adaptations
- 12. Related Resources & Further Reading
Breaking news from the indie theater scene: Rosie Glen-Lambert and Hailey McAfee, longtime collaborators who met and matured as artists at UC Santa Cruz, are expanding their partnership to the Off-Broadway stage. The duo have spent years building a collaborative practice rooted in community spaces and multi-hat roles, now stepping into a new chapter on a national platform.
Glen-Lambert, who started her own company, The Attic Collective, staged its inaugural production in her Santa Cruz attic. This intimate origin underscores a creative ethic that many indie theater-makers carry today: resourceful, intimate venues can seed ambitious work and meaningful audience connections.
McAfee, originally set on English during her first year at UCSC, pivoted to theatre after an audition during her first quarter. A homesick moment became a defining turn,steering her toward a calling that blends acting with writing,directing,and design. She has as embraced a holistic theatre practice, aligning with Glen-Lambert’s collaborative approach.
McAfee described UCSC’s theatre arts program as a well-rounded launchpad,noting that it exposed her to costume design,playwriting,directing,and even clowning. “Although I see myself first as an actor,the program prepared me to wear many hats,” she said,emphasizing the value of a versatile skill set in indie production economies.
During their time at UCSC, McAfee acted in productions including Splendor and Death of Joaquin Murrieta, Dock 23, All in an Evening, The Seagull, Vinegar tom, The Thinning Veil, Almost, Maine, Twelfth Night and The Illusion. She also created a one-woman piece, I Love you Madly, produced through Barnstorm, and contributed to SheBam—an all–female-identifying and nonbinary sketch ensemble.
The two artists have long collaborated, writing and directing side by side from their student days onward. Now, they are stepping into a broader audience with an Off-Broadway engagement that signals both artistic growth and a continued commitment to autonomous theater’s collaborative spirit.
The show opens to audiences on January 14, drawing Banana Slugs and theatre-goers alike from UCSC and New York alike. This move from campus rooms to a professional stage is seen as a natural progression for a duo whose work centers community, experimentation, and social engagement.
Key Facts at a Glance
| Subject | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founders | Rosie Glen-Lambert and Hailey McAfee |
| Origin | the Attic Collective; debut production staged in glen-Lambert’s Santa Cruz attic |
| Education | Both UC Santa Cruz theatre alumni |
| Breakthrough work | Collaboration across acting, writing, directing, design |
| Recent project | Off-Broadway show launching January 14; proceeds from a benefit performance supported gun reform groups |
| Notable UCSC credits | McAfee acted in multiple productions; wrote and directed a one-person piece; part of SheBam |
Evergreen Takeaways for Independent Theatre
- Resourcefulness in venue selection often anchors ambitious work and community engagement.
- Cross-disciplinary training builds resilience for indie artists who wear many hats.
- Partnerships formed in academic settings can evolve into professional ventures with broader audiences.
- Benefit performances can amplify social impact while sustaining artistic projects.
What This Means for the Future of Indie Theatre
The move from campus stages to Off-Broadway underlines a trend where small, collaborative companies leverage intimate origins to reach larger stages. Glen-Lambert and McAfee exemplify a generation of artists who prioritize collective creation, equity, and hands-on learning—qualities that often yield durable, audience-connected work beyond the customary theater ecosystem.
Readers are invited to share their thoughts: Would you attend Off-Broadway performances by emerging collectives anchored in university life? How do you think early-career collaborations shape long-term sustainability in the arts?
For those following updates, the january 14 show date marks a milestone in a trajectory defined by collaboration, experimentation, and community impact.
Engage with this story: share your reactions in the comments and tell us which indie productions you’d like to see receive broader exposure.
UCSC Alumna Background
.### Production Overview
- Title: and her Children
- Venue: New York Theater Workshop (Off‑Broadway) – opened 14 January 2026, 7:44 p.m.
- playwright/Director: Dr. Maya Rivera (UCSC Class of 2015, MFA in Theatre Design)
- Source material: Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children (1939)
- Premise: A modern‑day reinterpretation that transposes Brecht’s anti‑war heroine to a grieving mother navigating america’s escalating gun‑violence crisis.
UCSC Alumna Background
| Year | Degree | Notable Achievements |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | B.A. in Theatre & Performance Studies | Co‑founder of the student‑run theater collective “Radical Stage” at UCSC. |
| 2017–2022 | MFA in Theatre Design, Yale School of Drama | Designed sets for The Crucible (Boston Playhouse) and The Glass Menagerie (Chicago). |
| 2023 | Named “Emerging playwright of the Year” by Playwrights Horizons | Commissioned for and her Children after a public reading at the UCSC Alumni theatre festival. |
| 2025 | Received Kennedy Center arts Initiative grant | Developed research on gun‑violence narratives in contemporary American drama. |
Reimagining Mother Courage for 2026
- Setting Shift – From 17th‑century war-torn Europe to a present‑day Mid‑Atlantic suburb plagued by mass shootings.
- Narrative Lens – The protagonist, Cora Stein, mirrors Brecht’s Mother Courage but is a single mother who loses her teenage son to a school shooting.
- Structural Echoes – Retains brecht’s episodic scenes and Verfremdungseffekt (alienation effect) through:
- Multimedia projections of news footage.
- On‑stage narration that directly addresses the audience.
- New Characters – Introduces a “Gun‑Safety Advocate” and a “Community Organizer,” each serving as modern equivalents of Brecht’s cynical merchants.
Gun‑Violence Debate Context (2026)
- National statistics: 32 mass shootings recorded in the U.S. during 2025, according to the Gun violence Archive.
- Legislative landscape: The Federal Firearms Reform Act passed in late 2024, yet state‑level loopholes persist.
- Cultural conversation: 2025–2026 saw a surge of theatrical works—The Last Bullet, Echoes of Silence—that use stagecraft to critique gun policy.
Critical Reception (First Week)
- The New York Times – “Rivera’s and her Children is a searing, timely indictment of a nation that profits from tragedy, while never sacrificing Brechtian rigor.”
- Variety – Highlighted the production’s “raw emotional realism combined with stark theatrical distance.”
- theatremania – Audience poll: 87 % reported “greater awareness of gun‑policy complexities” after the show.
Key Themes & Audience Impact
- Maternal Resilience vs. Militaristic Profit – Explores how mothers are co‑opted by profit‑driven war economies, now reframed as the firearms industry.
- Collective Responsibility – Uses brecht’s chorus‑like community characters to stress systemic accountability.
- Media Saturation – Real‑time news feeds onstage illustrate the desensitization effect of constant coverage.
Practical Takeaway:
- Alienation through Technology: Incorporating live‑feed social‑media streams can heighten the Verfremdungseffekt for contemporary audiences.
Practical tips for Staging Politically Charged Adaptations
- Research Depth: Partner with local advocacy groups (e.g., Everytown for Gun Safety) to ground the script in factual data.
- Balanced Dialogue: Include multiple viewpoints to avoid preaching; Brecht’s technique of dialectical confrontation works well.
- Safety Protocols: When staging realistic gun‑prop scenes, consult an armorer and adhere to NYC Stage Safety regulations.
- Community Talkbacks: Schedule post‑show panels with scholars, survivors, and policymakers to extend the conversation beyond the theater.
- Breath of the Stage: bertolt Brecht’s Theatre of the Absurd – a 2024 Routledge analysis on modern adaptations.
- Gun‑Violence archive (2025 Report): Extensive data on incidents, legislative responses, and demographic impact.
- UCSC Alumni Spotlight: “From Campus to Broadway – Maya Rivera’s Journey” – archived on the UCSC Alumni Association website (June 2025).
- Playbill Feature (Jan 2026): “How and her Children Redefines Protest Theatre in the Age of Digital Media.”
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