Ensemble eatre Company to host refugee organization

Calendar

COURTESY PHOTO Flying Goat Cellars will host a reception for mosaic artist Kathleen McCabe-Martin

The calendar appears Mondays through Saturdays in the “Life & the Arts” section. Items are welcome. Please email them a full week before the event to Managing Editor Dave Mason at dmason@ newspress.com.

TODAY

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival continues daily through Feb. 18. In addition to today’s movies, the Outstanding Directors of the Year Award will be presented tonight to Oscar nominees Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”), Todd Field (Tár), and Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”). The directors will be on stage at 8 p.m. at the Arlington Theatre, 1317 State St. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Entangled: Responding to Environmental Crisis,” runs through March 25 at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. The museum is open from 10 a.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. It’s closed on Sundays and college holidays. For more information, call 805-565-6162 or visit westmont.edu/museum.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Interlopings:

Colors in the Warp and Weft of Ecological Entanglements” is an exhibit that runs through March 12 at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The exhibit features weavings dyed with pigments from non-native plants on Santa Cruz Island. The weavings were created by artists Helen Svensson and Lisa Jevbratt. For more information, see sbbotanicgarden.org.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Coast artist and London native Annie Hoffman’s exhibit “Seeing Ourselves in Colour” will be displayed through Feb. 28 at Gallery Los Olivos, 2920 Grand Ave., Los Olivos. For more information, visit anniehoffmann.com.

10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. “The Search for the Modern West,” an exhibit, continues through Feb. 20 at Sullivan Goss: An American Gallery, 11 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. For more information, see sullivangoss.com or call the gallery at 805-730-1460.

Ensemble Theatre Company will hold a “Talk Back” discussion with the Central Coast Afghanistan Refugee Organization “SLO4HOME” following this Sunday’s 2 p.m. matinee of “Selling Kabul” at the New Vic, 33 W. Victoria St.

The play is written by Sylvia Khoury and directed by Nike Doukas.

Refugees from Afghanistan who have been relocated to the Central Coast will talk about their journey from Afghanistan to America and answer questions from those in attendance.

“I’m grateful to SLO4HOME for the work that they do to assist Afghan refugees and for allowing us to hear their stories first hand,” said Jonathan Fox, the Ensemble Theatre Company artistic director.

SLO4HOME is a broad coalition of religious organizations, veteran and active-duty military members, and community activists who are helping Afghan refugees establish new lives and livelihoods on the Central Coast. This grassroots group, which already has nearly 100 volunteers representing a broad cross section of the community, began coordinating assistance efforts late last year.

Areas of focus include housing, job assistance, education, health, transportation, culture and hospitality.

The play preceding the talkback, “Selling Kabul,” is about an Afghan man hiding from the Taliban in 2013 in his sister’s home. For more information, see etcsb.org.

Noon to 5 p.m. “Clarence Mattei: Portrait of a Community” is on view now through May at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, which is located in downtown Santa Barbara at 136 E. De la Guerra St. Admission is free. Hours are currently from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and from noon to 7 p.m. Thursdays. For more information, visit www.sbhistorical.org.

4 to 6 p.m. Flying Goat Cellars will host a reception for mosaic artist Kathleen McCabe-Martin at the cellars’ tasting room, 1520 E. Chestnut Court, Lompoc. 7 p.m. The Alcazar Theatre and Ensemble will open its 2023 season tonight through Sunday with “Now and Then.” “Now and Then” is a romantic drama/comedy about love, following your dreams and the costs of personal decisions. The curtain will rise at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with matinees at 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at the theater, 4916 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria. Tickets cost $20 for general admission and $15 for seniors and students. To purchase, go to www. thealcazar.org.

7 p.m. “The River Bride,” the story of folklore, love, regret and two sisters who struggle to be true to each other and their hearts will be presented by PCPA (Pacific Conservatory Theatre) from Feb. 16 through March 5 in Santa Maria. The play is being performed at the Severson Theatre at Allan Hancock College, 870 S. Bradley Road. Curtain rises at 7 p.m.

Feb. 16-18, 1:30 p.m. Feb. 19 and 22, 10 a.m. Feb. 23, 7 p.m. Feb. 24, 1:30 and 7 p.m. Feb. 25, 1:30 p.m. Feb. 26, 10 a.m. March 2, 7 p.m. March 3 and 4, and 1:30 p.m. March 4 and 5. Tickets are $49. To purchase, visit www.pcpa.org or call the box office at 805-922-8313.

8 p.m. Ensemble Theatre Company will perform “Selling Kabul” at the New Vic Theatre, 33 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara, Tickets cost $40 to $84. To purchase, go to etcsb.org or call 805965-5400. FEB. 18 3 and 7 p.m. The Alcazar Theatre and Ensemble will perform “Now and Then.” “Now and Then,” a romantic drama/ comedy about love, at the theater, 4916 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria. Tickets