‘Everybody’s Favorite Mothers’ Comes to UC Santa Barbara’s LAUNCH PAD

UCSB’s LAUNCH PAD program features new plays-in-progress by visiting playwrights, so in a LAUNCH PAD production, the writer can see their play fully staged, assess what’s working and what’s falling flat, and rework the piece from there. This year’s featured playwright is James Still, whose new work, Everybody’s Favorite Mothers, is a story of the fierce love and support of a woman standing up for her gay son.

“It’s the story of how this mother becomes a reluctant hero. She becomes a changemaker against all odds,” says Still. “Do a little bit of digging (not very much!) and you’ll see that in 1972 it was a pretty radical thing to do to stand up and say, ‘my son is gay, and I love him and he’s a brilliant human being.’ That really changed things. Hundreds of thousands of friends and family members could come out as allies. It changed the conversation.” The mother in this play is Jeanne Manford, the woman who founded the support group that evolved into PFLAG.

The play (and the entire LAUNCH PAD program) is directed by Risa Brainin. Still calls this portion of the work’s progression a bridge between the reading process and a fully produced premiere. “Every play is an experiment,” he says, noting that many plays fail during their first run — which is why the LAUNCH PAD program is a gift to writers of developing work.

Performed by the department’s BFA acting students, Still calls the thematic issues of acceptance, community, civil rights, and activism in Everybody’s Favorite Mothers accessible across generations. He notes, “It’s like spending time with my younger self, because the play calls on the passion of young people, upon the passion for fighting for what you believe in.” The current iteration (though things might change throughout the run!) of Everybody’s Favorite Mothers runs at the UCSB Hatlen Theater February 22–March 2.

For more information and to purchase tickets, see theaterdance.ucsb.edu/news/event/1041.