'Car Plays' Stops Downtown for an Encore

The Westmont theatre arts department’s popular student production, “The Car Play Project,” which had an overwhelmingly successful run in November and December, will be pulling into downtown Santa Barbara, Thursday, Feb. 1, at 6 p.m., in the plaza directly behind the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The production is free, though seating is expected to be limited.

The production is part of the Santa Barbara Downtown Organization’s inaugural 1st Thursday, a monthly event focused on downtown art and culture.

“The Car Play Project” will include about 15 students, performing six of the original 16 plays due to space constraints. Each car offers a different play written, directed and acted by students. At the end of a play, guests will be able to pick another vehicle to enter, and can pick any car they wish to sit in.

“Innovative…Exciting…Unnerving…Bravo to (professor) Mitchell Thomas for taking the wheel of this unusual parking job,” said Charles Donelan who reviewed the original production for the Santa Barbara Independent.

Originally, Thomas gave the students just three rules: The plays have to be less than 12 minutes, a majority of the action must take place in an enclosed vehicle, and at least two audience members must be able to sit comfortably in the vehicle.

“The six plays that will perform Feb. 1 have been chosen carefully to compliment one another,” says Thomas, “maintaining the diversity that made the project so innovative in the first place.”

Many downtown Santa Barbara art galleries and several musicians will be taking part in 1st Thursday. For more information, visit www.santabarbaradowntown.com.