SHAKES ON THE MOVE
THE SPRING 2026 TOUR
Santa Cruz Shakespeare is proud to announce our Spring 2026 touring program, presenting our newest production The Tempest, and our popular bilingual adaptation of Romeo and Juliet! If you can’t come to the Grove for one of our shows, let us 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 bill … and your budget!
FILL OUT THIS FORM to request performance dates for your school for either (or both!) of the following productions:
Romeo & Juliet
Spring Tour: March 2nd – May 17th
This dynamic, 45-minute adaptation of Romeo and Juliet infuses Shakespeare’s original language with a multicultural twist, celebrating the beauty of diverse storytelling. Through energy, humor, and heart, audiences will experience the timeless tale of star-crossed lovers caught between feuding families. By blending languages and cultural influences, this production makes Shakespeare accessible, relevant, and deeply engaging for modern audiences.
TARGET AGE OF AUDIENCE
Recommended for grades 5th–12th; suitable for younger audiences at the discretion of the school.
POTENTIAL TRIGGERS
This play involves violence, mentions of suicide, and strong language, plus the use of prop knives. We can provide an option that does not include prop knives if required; just let us know as we coordinate our tour to your site.
CURRICULAR TIE-INs FOR TEACHERS:
English Language Arts:
Students will engage with Shakespeare’s language, themes, and characters while exploring how translation and adaptation can enhance understanding and accessibility.
Theater Arts:
This performance highlights the power of live storytelling, emphasizing stagecraft, character development, and the cultural adaptability of classical works.
Social-Emotional Learning:
Themes of love, identity, conflict resolution, and cultural understanding provide opportunities for students to connect personally and reflect on their own experiences in a diverse world.
Foreign Language:
By incorporating bilingual elements, students will experience language in context, strengthening listening comprehension and cultural appreciation while exploring how language shapes meaning and expression in literature.
Social-Emotional Learning:
Questions of empathy, accountability, reconciliation, and the pursuit of freedom offer opportunities for personal reflection and connection to students’ lived experiences.
INTERACTIVE ELEMENTS
Post-show workshops are available (for an additional fee) that offer audience members the opportunity to engage with the cast, learn about Shakespeare’s world, and even try their hand at performing a scene! (Capacity limits apply.)</p>
The Tempest
Spring Tour: March 2nd – May 17th
This vibrant 45-minute adaptation of The Tempest blends Shakespeare’s original language with fresh cultural perspectives, illuminating themes of power, identity, and belonging. Set on an island alive with magic, music, and movement, the production explores how encounters between different peoples can lead to both conflict and understanding. With humor, heart, and imagination, audiences experience the story of shipwrecked nobles, spirited island inhabitants, and the journeys toward forgiveness, liberation, and self-discovery.
Our production maintains fidelity to Shakespeare’s text while highlighting post-colonial interpretations, inviting students to consider how ownership, perspective, and voice shape the telling of history. Through expressive staging and multicultural influences, this version of The Tempest invites young audiences to see Shakespeare as relevant, resonant, and alive with contemporary meaning.
TARGET AGE OF AUDIENCE
Designed with elementary school students in mind, but created to engage and delight audiences of all ages.
CURRICULAR TIE-INS FOR TEACHERS
English Language Arts:
Students engage with Shakespeare’s language, motifs, and characters while exploring how modern interpretation can reveal new thematic layers and promote critical thinking about historical and contemporary power structures.
Theater Arts:
This performance highlights expressive storytelling, physical theater, and the adaptability of classical works across cultures, giving students insight into character development, staging choices, and theatrical interpretation.
Social Studies / Cultural Studies:
Themes of colonization, voice, perspective, cultural encounter, and agency encourage discussion about historical contexts, narrative ownership, and how stories change depending on who is telling them.
Ethnic Studies:
Students examine how identity, power, and cultural memory shape the lived experiences of communities, using the dynamics of The Tempest to explore whose stories are centered, whose are marginalized, and how re-imagining classical works can support equity and representation.
Social-Emotional Learning:
Questions of empathy, accountability, reconciliation, and the pursuit of freedom offer opportunities for personal reflection and connection to students’ lived experiences.
INTERACTIVE ELEMENTS
Post-show workshops are available (for an additional fee) that offer audience members the opportunity to engage with the cast, learn about Shakespeare’s world, and even try their hand at performing a scene! (Capacity limits apply.)
Shakespeare and Social Justice
Available by Request
The Shakespeare and Social Justice program from Santa Cruz Shakespeare is a bridge between Shakespeare’s work and a modern context through the lens of specific social justice topics. A highly qualified teaching artist will guide students in making connections between the plays and their own lives through guided discussions and activities, in order to make Shakespeare more relatable and allow them to better understand the language through practice.
We will also focus on the broader impact of production specific choices through exploration of professionally performed and recorded scenes from Shakespeare’s plays.