For the First Time, Four Productions are Planned for Summer, Joining Spring and Fall Shows, as well as the Return of A Christmas Carol Winter Production

August 25, 2026– SANTA CRUZ, CA— Santa Cruz Shakespeare (SCS), a nationally recognized non-profit professional repertory theater company with a history in Santa Cruz County going back more than 45 years, has announced its lineup of eight productions for its 2027 season, expanding from its 2026 season to include a fourth summer show and a first full-production spring show. 

“Continuing our endeavor of expansion, for 2027 I’m thrilled to be adding a fourth show to our summer for the first time,” said Charles Pasternak, artistic director for Santa Cruz Shakespeare. “We have never delivered so much theatre to our community. Thanks to their dedicated support, we have grown miraculously from three shows in 2023 to eight shows in 2027.”

The productions of the 2027 season include:

Spring

• The Unexpected Man by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton

Summer 

• The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
• Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
• Hay Fever by Noël Coward
• Next to Normal, music by Tom Kitt, book & lyrics by Brian Yorkey

Fall

• Red by John Logan 
• Mary’s Wedding by Stephen Massicotte 

Winter

• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 

Performances for the festival season (Summer and Fall) will take place mid-July through mid-October in the Audrey Stanley Grove (The Grove) in Santa Cruz’s DeLaveaga Park, with the spring production in April and winter production in December at the Veterans Memorial Building (Vets Hall) in downtown Santa Cruz.

The 2027 Season will also include the return of Monday Night Revels, Community Revels, and SCS’s Fringe Series of staged readings.

The theme for the 2027 summer and fall productions is “Cry Havoc!” That Way Madness Lies… Each play explores madness (individual, collective and societal) from a different attitude, tone  and lens. 

About the Spring 2027 Production: 

The Unexpected Man
By Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton
Directed by Charles Pasternak 

Following the success of the one-man show Vincent in 2026, SCS will produce its first full spring production in 2027, Yasmina Reza’s beautiful two-hander one-act, The Unexpected Man. Two people sit in a train car flying across England: the man, a famous author and the woman, reading his latest book. With Reza’s signature dark humor, the play evolves with hilarious tension until its surprisingly sweet conclusion. The Unexpected Man will star local favorites Julie James and Rolf Saxon as the woman and the man. 

About the Summer 2027 Productions:

The Comedy of Errors 
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Charles Pasternak

The festival season opens with Shakespeare’s brilliant madcap farce, The Comedy of Errors. Two sets of identical twins were divided at birth. One pair has been searching for the other for years. Finally, on a single day in the city of Ephesus, both pairs of twins will be in the same place at the same time – and they happen to be dressed identically, of course – and hilarity ensues. Despite its wild premise, the play contains deep meditations on love, relationships, loyalty and family. 

Julius Caesar 
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Scott Wentworth 

It’s been almost twenty years since SCS last produced Shakespeare’s political masterpiece, Julius Caesar. Caesar returns victorious to Rome having defeated his last great rival, Pompei. Nothing now stands between him and kingship; toppling the Roman republic and crowning himself emperor, should he choose. A group of conspirators gather to take that choice out of his hands, led by the beloved and honorable Brutus. But good and evil are never black and white, and the consequences of their actions will bring a wild madness down upon Rome and the world. Julius Caesar explores societal madness through the depths of political corruption and the drive for power, along with some of the greatest and most stirring language ever written for the stage. 

Scott Wentworth returns to the festival for the first time in 15 years to direct.

Hay Fever
By Noël Coward 
Directed by Margaret Shigeko Starbuck

In Noël Coward’s early comic masterpiece, Hay Fever, the eccentric Bliss family (father, mother, daughter, son) each invited a romantic interest to their country house for the weekend. None have told the others and there’s not nearly enough room. Confusion and hilarity ensue, along with several trysts. Like all of Coward’s great plays, there is also something deeper at work: examining how we live, as artists and families, outside of societal demands and expectations.

Margaret Shigeko Starbuck makes her debut directing at Santa Cruz Shakespeare. 

Next to Normal
Music by Tom Kitt, Book & Lyrics by Brian Yorkey
Directed by Rebecca Haley Clark
Music Direction by Luke Shepherd

Next to Normal is a musical whirlwind which examines a literal descent into madness. In Next to Normal, suburban housewife Diana Goodman seems to have everything she ever wanted: a loving husband and a pair of great kids. But it all starts falling apart as we learn she’s been battling bipolar disorder for the last sixteen years. Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for drama, Next to Normal is an absolutely wild ride, a surging rock musical that examines madness in our own backyards with humor, tenderness, anger and grace. 

About the Fall 2027 Productions:

Red
By John Logan
Directed by Paul Mullins

Red is a scorching two-hander that looks at the life and later-career of the great expressionist painter, Mark Rothko. A new assistant enters his world as he prepares a commission of paintings for The Four Seasons in New York. Red explores the artistic madness of defiance, of excellence, and of self-deception, as these two collaborate and battle in their journey towards the commission’s completion.

Mary’s Wedding
By Stephen Massicotte
Directed by Paul Mullins

More than any other play in the 2027 season, Mary’s Wedding explores the haunting and beautiful madness of memory. It tells the story of young love in early-20th century Canada between Mary and Charlie. They are engaged to be married by the time he travels across the Atlantic to serve in World War I. Through letters, memory and fantasy, we learn of their romance, their sacrifice and their joy.

Tickets for the Festival Season go on sale to members in April 2027 and to the public on May 1, 2027.

For more information, visit santacruzshakespeare.org.

About Santa Cruz Shakespeare

Featuring professional actors from around the country and inspired by deep local roots that go back more than 45 years, Santa Cruz Shakespeare stages bold productions of the plays of Shakespeare and other great playwrights that stimulate audiences’ senses and spark their imagination. Learn more at santacruzshakespeare.org, Facebook and Instagram.

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