Weekend with Shakespeare is a partnership between Santa Cruz Shakespeare and UCSC’s Shakespeare Workshop and The Humanities Institute. Each year we present a full weekend of lectures, discussions and hands-on activities in which participants can learn more about each play during the day before seeing the performance the same evening.

The 2026 Weekend with Shakespeare will take place on August 7, 8 and 9 and will include virtual programming via Zoom for Fences by August Wilson on Friday, August 7, and in-person programming at UCSC for Much Ado about Nothing and Macbeth. This event is free, but seating is limited! Click below to reserve your space.

AGENDA

Friday, August 7 — Fences by August Wilson on Zoom
REGISTER FOR THE ZOOM LINK FOR FENCES DISCUSSION »

• 11:00 a.m. – Welcome
• 11:15 a.m. – Actor Panel (members of the company, SCS)
• 12:15 p.m. – Break
• 12:30 p.m. – Directing and Dramaturgy Panel (Susan Dalian, Susan Myer Silton, and Rebecca Haley Clark)
• 1:30 p.m. – End of program
• 8:00 p.m. – Be sure to pre-purchase tickets to the SCS performance of Fences at the Audrey Stanley Grove in DeLaveaga Park

Saturday, August 8 — Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
RESERVE YOUR SEAT AT UCSC »

• 11:00 a.m. – Welcome (Sean Keilen, UCSC)
• 11:15 a.m. – Actor Panel (Charles Pasternak and members of the company, SCS)
• 12:15 p.m. – Boxed lunch (courtesy of Shakespeare Workshop)
• 1:00 p.m. – Visiting Scholar (Eli Simon, UC Irvine)
• 2:00 p.m. – End of program
• 8:00 p.m. – Be sure to pre-purchase tickets to the SCS performance of Much Ado About Nothing at the Audrey Stanley Grove in DeLaveaga Park

Sunday, August 9 — Macbeth by William Shakespeare
RESERVE YOUR SEAT AT UCSC »

• 11:00 a.m. – Welcome (Sean Keilen, UCSC)
• 11:15 a.m. – Actor Panel (Charles Pasternak and members of the company, SCS)
• 12:15 p.m. – Boxed lunch (courtesy of Shakespeare Workshop)
• 1:00 p.m. – Visiting Scholar (Eli Simon, UC Irvine)
• 2:00 p.m. – End of program
• 6:15 p.m. – Sean Keilen in conversation with SCS Artistic Director Charles Pasternak regarding Professor Keilen’s new book “Shakespeare’s Scholars: Three Lessons from the Liberal Arts”; books will be available for purchase and can be signed by the author. At the Audrey Stanley Grove in DeLaveaga Park
• 8:00 p.m. – Be sure to pre-purchase tickets to the SCS performance of Macbeth at the Audrey Stanley Grove in DeLaveaga Park