Santa Cruz Shakespeare Announces Cast & Production Team for 2026 Summer and Fall Festival Season

Tickets on sale now for outdoor productions of Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and ‘Macbeth’, and ‘Fences’ by August Wilson and fall productions of ‘Private Lives’ by Noël Coward and ‘The Last Five Years’, a musical by Jason Robert Brown.

June 24, 2026 – SANTA CRUZ, CA—Santa Cruz Shakespeare (SCS), a nationally recognized professional theatre company in Santa Cruz County with deep local roots that go back more than 40 years, today announced the cast and production teams for its 2026 festival season, ‘Til Death Do Us Part.

Performances will take place July 11 through October 4 in the Audrey Stanley Grove at Santa Cruz’s DeLaveaga Park. Ticket prices range from $25 to $91.25 and are available at santacruzshakespeare.org. The seasonal box office is open for phone orders Tuesday through Friday from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 831-460-6399 and two hours prior to every performance.

SCS’s performance calendar can be found online.

Cast and Production Teams

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
Opening Night: July 16, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Director: Charles Pasternak

Starring Jono Eiland as Benedick, Charlotte Boyce Munson as Beatrice, Will Block as Claudio, and Allie Pratt as Hero. The ensemble includes: Thomas Bigley, Chris Cherin, Lily Cline, Dan Donohue, Patty Gallagher, Cameron Kauffman, Renée Torchio MacDonald, Charles Pasternak, Izzy Pedego, Mike Ryan and Paige Lindsey White.

Production team includes Michael Schweikardt (Scenic Design), Erin Reed Carter (Costume Design), Marcella Barbeau (Lighting Design) and Luke Shepherd (Sound Design and Composition).

Director’s Note

“To my mind, the greatness of Much Ado hinges on a pair of theatrical miracles. And I don’t just mean Beatrice and Benedick, though they are miracles of another sort. No, I mean moments or miraculous, world-altering redefinition. Am I being hyperbolic? I don’t think so… one of them, every audience loves; the other, most audiences hate…”

 

Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Opening Night: July 17, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Director: Paul Mullins

Starring Dan Donohue in the title role and Paige Lindsey White as Lady Macbeth. The ensemble includes: Michael Asberry, Aria Atkinson, Thomas Bigley, Will Block, Chris Cherin, Lily Cline, Jono Eiland, Patty Gallagher, Cameron Kauffman, Renée Torchio MacDonald, Charlotte Boyce Munson, Iyanu Olukotun, Allie Pratt, Joseph Pratt Lukefahr, Carolyn Rattery, ML Roberts, Mike Ryan and Derrick Lee Weeden.

Production team includes Michael Schweikardt (Scenic Design), B. Modern (Costume Design), Marcella Barbeau (Lighting Design) and Rodolfo Ortega (Sound Design and Composition).

Director’s Note

“Despite its specific origins, Macbeth has been a well-performed play, and continues to speak to us four hundred years later about the corrupting nature of power and ambition, the chaos and destruction of tyranny, as well as the consequences of guilt and conscience, and the inevitability of time. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow… These themes speak to any time, but seem to me to resonate especially with a reality of our own—the anxiety of navigating with uncertain footing a world that sometimes seems to be falling apart.”

 

Fences by August Wilson
Opening Night: July 30, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Director: Susan Dalian

Starring Derrick Lee Weeden as Troy and Carolyn Ratteray as Rose. The ensemble includes Michael Asberry, Maimouna Biaye, Mamia Biaye, Iyanu Olukotun, ML Roberts and Avondina Wills.

Production team includes Michael Schweikardt (Scenic Design), Patrick N. Trower (Costume Design), Marcella Barbeau (Lighting Design) and Luke Shepherd (Sound Design and Composition).

Director’s Note:

“Wilson’s work belongs in conversation with the great dramatic literature of the world, making it especially meaningful that this production marks the first time an August Wilson play has been produced by Santa Cruz Shakespeare. His plays have been performed around the globe because, while rooted in the Black American experience, they speak to audiences across cultures, and generations universally.

Like Shakespeare, Wilson elevates everyday speech into poetry. His language carries the rhythms of Black America—drawing inspiration from the blues, jazz, storytelling traditions, and the voices of working people. In Fences, the dialogue moves like music, shifting effortlessly from one emotion to the next. Wilson’s ability to fuse poetic language with deeply human characters is one of the reasons his work continues to resonate with audiences worldwide.”

 

Private Lives by Noël Coward
Opening Night: September 5, 2026, 7:00 p.m.
Director: Laura Gordon

Starring Charles Pasternak as Elyot and Paige Lindsey White as Amanda. The ensemble includes Chris Cherin, Charlotte Boyce Munson and Izzy Pedego.

Production team includes Thomas Bigley (Scenic Design), Austin Blake Conlee (Costume Design), Marcella Barbeau (Lighting Design) and Luke Shepherd (Sound Design and Composition).

 

The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown

Opening Night September 5, 2026, 7:00 p.m.
Director Laura Gordon
Music Direction Luke Shepherd

Starring Chris Cherin as Jamie and Charlotte Boyce Munson as Cathy.

Musicians are Kristin Garbeff on cello and Luke Shepherd on piano.

Production team includes Thomas Bigley (Scenic Design), Austin Blake Conlee (Costume Design), Marcella Barbeau (Lighting Design) and Luke Shepherd (Sound Design and Composition).

Director’s Note for Private Lives and The Last Five Years

“I love the way Private Lives and The Last Five Years speak to each other. They’re both written by undisputed masters of their craft. Noel Coward is the unparalleled voice of effortless sophisticated wit and wisdom, with Private Lives having remained a masterpiece since it debuted in 1930. Jason Robert Brown is a multi-award-winning composer and lyricist. His Last Five Years is considered a generation-defining musical written at the beginning of this century.
And while the styles of these plays may seem miles apart, they resonate off of each other thematically in quite compelling ways.

At their core they both speak to relationships in all their complicated glory: the highs and lows, the love and loss, the fighting and the making up. We see their selfishness and generosity, their immaturity and depth. They both take us on heartfelt, thought provoking, and entirely human journeys.”

Additional Offerings at The Grove

The 2026 festival season will also include SCS’s Fringe Series, including two staged readings on Monday, August 17 and Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. Price is pay-what-you-will.

Monday Night Revels return with a broad lineup of one-night-only performances at the Grove throughout the season, including international a cappella superstars Rockapella and viral comic sensation Kristin Key. In addition to a mix of national touring acts, beloved tribute bands, comedy, and drag, SCS is adding Community Revels on select Tuesday nights, welcoming local Santa Cruz favorites to the stage, making the Audrey Stanley Grove a vibrant hub of entertainment every night throughout the summer.

About Santa Cruz Shakespeare

Featuring professional actors from around the country and inspired by deep local roots
that go back more than 40 years, Santa Cruz Shakespeare stages bold productions of
the plays of Shakespeare and other great playwrights that stimulate audiences’ senses
and spark their imagination.

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