Santa Cruz Shakespeare
Mission
Inspired by Shakespeare, we create and strengthen community by bringing audiences and theatre artists together to celebrate stories about our collective humanity.
About
Founded in 2014 as a newly independent theatre company, SCS continues a 40-year tradition of staging bold productions of the plays of Shakespeare and other great playwrights. Throughout our history, hundreds of thousands of people, young and old, have been enthralled, engaged, and energized by what we bring to the community.
Matching a fearless aesthetic with transparent financial responsibility, SCS is passionate about theatre that is inclusive, inquisitive, and that engages with the contemporary moment.
Repertory: In a true repertory company, actors play parts in most (or all) of the productions offered in any given season. Once each of the shows opens, it enters a schedule of rotating performances, so productions of multiple plays can be seen in a single week.
Professional: SCS believes in equitable wages and therefore hires members of entertainment trade unions providing salaries, pension, and health benefits for their members. For admittance into these unions, these artists must be highly regarded in their respective fields, and maintain their status by garnering regular works with other professional theatre companies. Non-union employees receive industry standard living-wage compensation for their work.
Educational: SCS engages with students and community members through many education programs, including professional internships, student matinees, free youth tickets, educational newsletters, lesson plans for teachers, symposiums, and in-school visits.
2022 Summer Season
As we begin to emerge from the shipwreck and isolation of our pandemic lives, all of us at Santa Cruz Shakespeare find hope in the realization that we do not have to return to the world we left. We can abandon ideas that have outgrown their usefulness, challenge the status quo, and recreate ourselves, our community, and our world with greater compassion and authenticity. The plays of our 2022 summer season encourage us in that great endeavor. In all of them, characters have grown trapped by old ways of thinking and are shocked awake by calamity, self-examination and love. The season begins with a World-Premiere of The Formula by Kathryn Chetkovich - inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Ellen Maguire, and a co-production with Blissfield. It will be joined by Twelfth Night and The Tempest in our outdoor repertory at the Audrey Stanley Grove.
2022 also features the return of our Intern company with a production of Just Deserts by Carol Lashoff. This retelling of the story of Orestes and the Erinyes (The Furies) from Greek myth, is a terrific addition to the season, and particularly links to The Tempest with its exploration of themes of vengeance.
2023 Season Announced
The 2023 Season for Santa Cruz Shakespeare includes: King Lear featuring former Shakespeare Santa Cruz artistic director Paul Whitworth in his Santa Cruz Shakespeare debut as the King; Taming of The Shrew, and The Book of Will by Lauren Gunderson.
Education
Santa Cruz Shakespeare is dedicated to educating our community about Shakespeare and how his works impact the individual and the world. We have several programs that will help you gain a deeper understanding of the elements and themes within Shakespeare's plays and allow you to approach The Bard with fresh eyes and ears.
Our education programs include:
Undiscovered Shakespeare - Santa Cruz Shakespeare, UCSC Shakespeare Workshop, and The Humanities Institute, partner to present Undiscovered Shakespeare each year. In February of 2022 we presented The Life and Death of King John, the third installment of our annual virtual Shakespeare program. In 2020 we presented Henry VI, Parts 1,2, and 3, and Richard lll. Leading up to our 2022 season we explored Troilus and Cressida. Over the course of three sessions each, we immersed ourselves in these rarely performed play and reflected on them as a mirror for the times in which we live. We plan to present King Henry VIII in 2023.
Student Matinee Program - One of our goals at Santa Cruz Shakespeare is to ensure that every high school student in Santa Cruz County has seen a live, professional production of one of Shakespeare’s play by the time they graduate.
Shakespeare and Social Justice - We humanize Shakespeare in the classroom with our in-school programs that bring a contemporary lens to his plays and ask students to wrestle with the racism, sexism, and other problematic issues inherent in his texts.Weekend With Shakespeare - Dig deeply into our Shakespeare productions each season with a special weekend of lectures, discussions and hands-on activities.
In partnership with UCSC's Shakespeare Workshop and The Humanities Institute, this is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about each play during the day and then enjoy the production that same evening.
The Summer Intern Program - Santa Cruz Shakespeare provides a highly-coveted internship program and the chance to work with nationally-renowned artists and production crews, get hands-on experience with classical outdoor repertory theatre, and enjoy summer in sunny Santa Cruz, CA!
Resources for Educators - From lessons plans to in-school visits, we offer a variety of tools to teachers designed to inspire and invigorate students as they learn about Shakespeare and his plays.
Staff
Year-round festival staff for 2023 include: Mike Ryan (Artistic Director), Charles Pasternak (Artistic Director Designee), Larry Mabrey (Managing Director), Vivian Rogers (Development Director), Rebecca Haley Clark (Education Programs Manager), Isabel Contreras (Marketing Manager), and Dom Bonner (Administrative and Operations Manager).
“Shakespeare Play On’s effort to bring Shakespeare back to Santa Cruz for 2014 amount to one of the most inspiring stories of artists and patrons working together thoughtfully that I have seen in many years. A place as beautiful as Santa Cruz deserves a writer a brilliant as Shakespeare thriving in its midst.”