Santa Cruz Shakespeare

Santa Cruz Shakespeare In August of 2013 the university announced that it would close the doors of the SSC at the end of the season.

We are a nationally recognized professional theatre company delivering riveting live performances at our beautiful outdoor theatre at DeLaveaga Park, plus other venues in downtown Santa Cruz. In December, Shakespeare Play On (SPO) was founded, comprised of festival supporters, board members, artists and community leaders. An Advisory Board was formed including luminaries Sir Patrick Stewart and Ol

ympia Dukakis. SPO launched a campaign to resurrect the festival with the goal to give the community a chance to speak for themselves concerning the fate of the organization. Their voice was loud and clear: Santa Cruz wants a professional Shakespeare Festival. The fund raising campaign was a resounding success, resulting in the forward-funding of the 2014 season. SCS will produce two Shakespeare comedies and an intern "fringe" show this summer in the Stanley-Sinsheimer Festival Glen. The festival is helmed by Co-Artistic Directors Marco Barricelli, former SSC Artistic Director, and Festival Alumni, Mike Ryan. Many of your favorite designers, actors and artisans will return this summer. SCS looks forward to bringing Shakespeare to Santa Cruz with the artistry and aesthetics it has come to expect and delighting it with new possibilities for the future. Ryan said, "It is clear from the tremendous community response to our fundraising efforts that Santa Cruz loves its outdoor summer Shakespeare performances and we are delighted to bring them the high-quality productions and performances that they have come to expect. We also look forward to finding ways we can interact with the community and its businesses at large, ensuring that this remains theatre of and for the people of Santa Cruz."

Happy Pride, Santa Cruz! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
06/08/2026

Happy Pride, Santa Cruz! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

And the next thrilling designer of our 2026 season: Megan Evans,  returns to us for their third season and their first a...
06/07/2026

And the next thrilling designer of our 2026 season: Megan Evans, returns to us for their third season and their first as an associate costume designer, working on Private Lives and The Last Five Years! 🎨

Megan is a theatrical costume artist from Modesto, California and is delighted to return to Santa Cruz Shakespere for a third year. Megan currently serves as the Wardrobe Supervisor of Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and has led wardrobe on 30+ professional productions. When not backstage, Megan is freelancing collaborations with costume designers to bring creative visions to life. Select credits include, Assistant Costume Design: Hamlet, Into The Woods (Santa Cruz Shakespere), A Christmas Carol (Falls Patio Players), The Graduate, Jersey Boys, Sh-Boom! Life Could Be A Dream (Sierra Repertory Theatre). Costume Design: Mean Girls Jr. (Sierra Repertory Theatre).

Santa Cruz Shakespeare is proud to announce our FALL 2026 TOUR: The Tempest, and Macbeth! Our goal is for every school s...
06/04/2026

Santa Cruz Shakespeare is proud to announce our FALL 2026 TOUR: The Tempest, and Macbeth! Our goal is for every school student to experience Shakespeare, but getting to the theater may be difficult to do... so let SCS come to you! Whether in a school, a library, a retirement community, a park, or another type of venue, we have something that will fit your space! www.santacruzshakespeare.org/tour

Announcing the next brilliant designer of our 2026 season: Marcella Barbeau,  returns for her fourth year as our season ...
06/04/2026

Announcing the next brilliant designer of our 2026 season: Marcella Barbeau, returns for her fourth year as our season lighting designer! 💡

Marcella (she/her) is a New York City based lighting designer and thrilled to return for her fourth season with Santa Cruz Shakespeare. Recent credits include Here Lies Love (Center Theater Group), La Boheme (Portland Opera), The Heart Sellers (Cincinnati Playhouse), Octet (Hudson Valley Shakespeare), The Taming of the Shrew, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Into the Woods, Much Ado About Nothing (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Madama Butterfly, Maria de Buenos Aires (Opera San Antonio), La Traviata , The Threepenny Opera, Rigoletto, Maria de Buenos Aires (Opera Columbus), Carmen, Madama Butterfly (Austin Opera), La Traviata (Opera Omaha), Acis and Galatea, L’elisir D’amore (Florentine Opera), L’Amant Anonyme (Madison Opera), Murder on the Orient Express (Playmaker’s Repertory), Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon (Lookingglass Theatre, world premiere). Upcoming: Our Town (Playmaker's Repertory). She received her Master of Fine Arts at Boston University and is a proud member of USA 829. As a Chinese-American lighting designer, Marcella actively seeks to collaborate with and amplify the voices of fellow BIPOC artists of all intersectionalities.

EDUCATORS! BRING YOUR STUDENTS TO OUR THEATER! Santa Cruz Shakespeare offers Student Matinee (SMAT) programming as an im...
06/04/2026

EDUCATORS! BRING YOUR STUDENTS TO OUR THEATER! Santa Cruz Shakespeare offers Student Matinee (SMAT) programming as an important piece of our goal to ensure that every high school student in Santa Cruz County has seen a live, professional production of one of Shakespeare’s plays by the time they graduate.

Performances and Performance Dates:
-- Fences -- August 20 @ 10 a.m. & August 28 @ 10 a.m. – The Audrey Stanley Grove -- Much Ado About Nothing -- August 21 @ 10 a.m.
-- Macbeth -- August 27 @ 10 a.m.

These 10am matinees are for students and their chaperones only, and include a post-show discussion with the actors after each performance. www.santacruzshakespeare.org/student-matinees

This Sunday, June 7, our collaborators at The Santa Cruz County Veterans Memorial Building,  will have a pair of fundrai...
06/03/2026

This Sunday, June 7, our collaborators at The Santa Cruz County Veterans Memorial Building, will have a pair of fundraiser performances. All money raised supports the building and vets in our community. Check out their website for tickets and more info.

Welcome Stage Managers!! 🗂️ Our incredible stage management team begins prep week this week, getting us ready for rehear...
06/02/2026

Welcome Stage Managers!! 🗂️ Our incredible stage management team begins prep week this week, getting us ready for rehearsals to begin one week from today! 💥 .13_ .stageleft516 📸

06/01/2026

Happy Pride! Catch Kristin Key on the SCS stage in the Audrey Stanley Grove at DeLaveaga Park on September 21!

Announcing our next incredible designer of the 2026 season: Austin Blake Conlee,  returns for his third season to costum...
05/31/2026

Announcing our next incredible designer of the 2026 season: Austin Blake Conlee, returns for his third season to costume design Private Lives and The Last Five Years! 🎨

Returning for his third season, ABC previously designed Into the Woods and Hamlet at SCS. Professor of Costume Design at Ramapo College of New Jersey; Regional credits include Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Opera Columbus, The Kennedy Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Signature Theatre, Northern Stage, Cumberland Playhouse, and Sierra Repertory Theatre. Select design credits include The Importance of Being Earnest, Cinderella (2023 BWW Award), Gentleman’s Guide, La Traviata, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Streetcar Named Desire, Joseph… Technicolor Dreamcoat, Threepenny Opera, Cunning Little Vixen, Hamlet: Replayed, Urinetown!, Black Madonna, La Boheme, Twelfth Night, & Baskerville. Website: https://www.abcdesigns.me/

Our friends and neighbors at Mountain Community Theater  are doing great work -- their production of “Who’s Afraid of Vi...
05/29/2026

Our friends and neighbors at Mountain Community Theater are doing great work -- their production of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” runs until June 7 at 9400 Mill St. in Ben Lomond. Don't miss this one.

Manirose Bobisuthi’s performance lives up the legendary reputation that accompanies the character Martha in Edward Albee’s masterful play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” directed by Peter Gelblum.

Address

501 Upper Park Road
Santa Cruz, CA
95065

Opening Hours

Tuesday 12pm - 5pm
Wednesday 12pm - 8pm
Thursday 12pm - 8pm
Friday 12pm - 8pm
Saturday 12pm - 8pm
Sunday 12pm - 8pm

Telephone

+18314606396

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