SHAKES ON THE MOVE
THE FALL 2026 TOUR
Santa Cruz Shakespeare is proud to announce our Fall 2026 touring program, presenting The Tempest, and Macbeth! 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:
Macbeth
Fall Tour: September 7th – November 20th
This dynamic, 45-minute educational adaptation of Macbeth brings Shakespeare’s gripping tragedy to life through fast-paced storytelling, engaging performances, and contemporary relevance, followed by a 15-minute Q&A with the cast. Students will explore the destructive effects of unchecked ambition, the corruption of power, and the rise of tyranny as Macbeth’s pursuit of authority spirals into violence, paranoia, and collapse. By connecting Shakespeare’s themes to modern political and social contexts, this production makes the play accessible, thought-provoking, and directly relevant to young learners encountering these ideas in the classroom and the world around them.
TARGET AGE OF AUDIENCE
Recommended for grades 5th–12th; suitable for younger audiences at the discretion of the school.
POTENTIAL TRIGGERS
This play includes themes of violence, murder, death and the supernatural, along with staged combat and the use of prop weapons. We can provide an option that does not include prop weapons 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, imagery, and dramatic structure while exploring themes of ambition, power, fate, and moral consequence through close reading and performance.
Theater Arts:
This production highlights the power of live storytelling through dynamic staging, character transformation, ensemble work, and the atmospheric elements that bring Shakespeare’s tragedy to life.
Social-Emotional Learning:
Themes of ambition, peer influence, guilt, fear, and personal responsibility encourage students to reflect on decision-making, ethics, and the consequences of individual choices.
History / Social Studies:
Students will explore ideas of leadership, monarchy, political instability, and social hierarchy, gaining insight into the historical and cultural context of Shakespeare’s world and the enduring relevance of these themes today.
Gender Studies:
Students will examine how gender expectations shape the actions and perceptions of characters such as Lady Macbeth and the witches, exploring themes of masculinity, femininity, power, and social roles in both Shakespeare’s time and contemporary society.
Ethnic Studies / Social Justice:
Through discussion of the witches, criminalization, and outsider identity, students will explore how fear, prejudice, and systems of power contribute to connections between race, marginalization, and perceptions of criminality, while considering how these dynamics continue to appear in modern culture and institutions.
Literature and Psychology:
Questions of conscience, identity, manipulation, and the effects of unchecked ambition provide opportunities for students to analyze character motivation and human behavior in complex situations.
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.)
The Tempest
Fall Tour: September 7th – November 20th
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.