Barnstorm Theater Company

Barnstorm is a student-run production company established in 2004 by Professor Cuthbert for the UCSC Theater Arts Department to generate more production opportunities for students and to ease their transition from academia to the professional theater world or to higher-level degree programs.

Every year since its establishment, Barnstorm has been the department’s laboratory with significant student freedom to produce and create projects that are most relevant to them. It is a rich testing ground, providing exceptional opportunities in addition to the department’s faculty-directed season, allowing students to experiment with and create their own innovative theater and gain a sense of operating and creating art within a professional theater company. The season is chosen by student managers who are typically pursuing the Theater Arts M.A. degree in the department.

Barnstorm has produced and hosted original student work, faculty-student collaborative pieces, previously published shows, dance shows, cabarets, improv and sketch comedy, 24-hour theater, staged readings, stand-alone or excerpted scenes, full-length plays, film and media projects, educational workshops and other performance or theatrical-based works produced as one-night shows, or full run productions.

Until 2020, the company was housed in the Barn Theater at the entrance of campus. That building is currently closed, awaiting funding to retrofit and bring it up to ADA standards. But the show must go on! The department has relocated the enterprise to one of our acting studios in the Theater Arts Center which has been converted into a cozy and productive theater space.

Getting Involved with Barnstorm

• Barnstorm typically operates in fall and winter quarters.
• Any UCSC student may apply to participate, audition or submit a proposal to direct in Barnstorm. 
• There is typically a Barnstorm Information Meeting during the first week of fall and winter quarters for all students (performers and backstage folks) who are interested in Barnstorm.
  • Details are posted on the department Auditions page as they become available. 
• Auditions for Barnstorm’s full productions typically take as part of the department’s General Auditions at the beginning of each quarter (excluding summer), usually on the first Thursday and Friday of the quarter. Auditions for one-nighters are usually held separately, later in the quarter, and organized by an individual show’s director and the Barnstorm management.
  • Details are posted on the department Auditions page as they become available. 
• Proposals for shows, productions, and other projects for Barnstorm are due in the middle of the quarter for the following quarter. This applies to play submissions, production ideas and directing proposals.
  • Details are posted on the department Auditions page as they become available. 
• Students interested in stage management, design and technical work for Barnstorm should submit the Barnstorm Tech Interest Form then follow up by speaking with the Barnstorm management team and attend the Barnstorm Information Meeting, typically held on the first Monday of the quarter, after General Auditions. Designers and stage managers may also contact the company managers to inquire about positions ahead of time, once the season has been announced, or attend the Barnstorm Information Meeting. There may also be other positions and opportunities, such as Publicity Manager, Webmaster, and more.
• Playwrights are encouraged to try to secure a committed director prior to proposal submission. Student playwrights have seen their work produced by Barnstorm in a variety of forms. Scripts have been produced in staged readings, stand-alone or excerpted scenes and other written works have been produced as part of one-night cabarets, and full-length plays, film and media projects, and other performance or theatrical-based written works have been produced as one-night shows, or full productions.
• All students involved in Barnstorm must enroll in Barnstorm as a credit-earning class.
  • Students may enroll in THEA 55A, a 5-unit class, for 150 hours of recorded work, or THEA 55B, a 2-unit class, for 50 hours of recorded work. More info. below on using THEA 55A to satisfy major requirements.
  • Students fulfill their required hours with work on their primary show or project by attending the Barnstorm shows and fulfilling support calls (acting as crew, ushers, publicity distributors, etc.). Students enrolled in THEA 55A must fulfill 4 hours of support calls per quarter, students in THEA 55B 2 hours.

Using Barnstorm to Satisfy THEA Major Requirements

The 5-unit Barnstorm course THEA 55A can satisfy the Production Requirement and/or the Lower Division Elective requirement for the Theater Arts major. There is no Theater Arts minor requirement which can be fulfilled by either THEA 55A or 55B (THEA 55B earns 2 units but does not fulfill any other degree requirement).

Please consult with the department academic advisor (theater-ugradadv@ucsc.edu) if you have questions about using Barnstorm to fulfill requirements.

Mission Statement

Barnstorm creates opportunities for the developing artist to re/claim theater and the theatrical process. Our aim is to integrate our perspectives into the political, social, cultural and academic climate of the UC Santa Cruz campus and community. We are devoted to fostering new works of art and giving student artists and audiences alike opportunities for an exchange within a theatrical setting.