Members! Thank you for your support of our 2022 Season!

We'll be updating this space with our 2023 Season very soon!  In the meantime, don't forget to renew your membership so you have early access to tickets next year!

Login to My Account

Our Successful 2022 Summer Festival Season July 10th - August 28th, 2022

Santa Cruz Shakespeare returned to our full capacity in The Grove, with three top-notch productions for our exciting 2022 season . Thank you for your attendance from July 10th through August 28th, 2022! Join us in 2023 and see what new and exciting shows we will share with you!  Scroll down the page to learn about our 2022 shows.

2022 Season Schedule
2022 Digital Playbill

Mike Ryan's Description of our 2022 Season

As we begin to emerge from the shipwreck and isolation of our pandemic lives, all of us at Santa Cruz Shakespeare find hope in the realization that we do not have to return to the world we left. We can abandon ideas that have outgrown their usefulness, challenge the status quo, and recreate ourselves, our community, and our world with greater compassion and authenticity. The plays of our 2022 summer season encourage us in that great endeavor. In all of them, characters have grown trapped by old ways of thinking and are shocked awake by calamity, self-examination and love. The season begins with a World-Premiere of The Formula by Kathryn Chetkovich - inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Ellen Maguire, and a co-production with Blissfield. It will be joined by Twelfth Night and The Tempest in our outdoor repertory at the Audrey Stanley Grove.

Become a Member

The Formula

The Formula
By Kathryn Chetkovich
July-August 2022
Live at The Grove
 
World Premiere of The Formula by Kathryn Chetkovich, directed by Ellen Maguire, Co-Production with Blissfield.
 
"A wonderful new play" — George Saunders, in the New Yorker:  https://rb.gy/sjvpdq
 
In The Formula, inspired by William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, an anxious young researcher experimenting with the neuroscience of attraction struggles to maintain control when the untested formula she's been working on gets loose at her own wedding — with spectacularly disastrous results. This whip-smart and moving new comedy swaps a lab-manufactured substance for Puck’s “love-in-idleness” flower and asks: Is choosing the right person to marry even possible? The ensemble cast includes Allie Pratt (SCS's Pride and Prejudice) and Dion Graham (The Wire). The Formula is the inaugural project of Blissfield, director Ellen Maguire's NYC-based production company. Supported by a generous grant from the NEA.
THE_FORMULA_SMALL
12TH_NIGHT_SMALL

Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night
By William Shakespeare
July-August 2022
Live at The Grove
 
Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare, directed by Paul Mullins.
 
Twelfth Night introduces us to Viola who is shipwrecked physically, and then introduces her to a cast of characters who are shipwrecked emotionally. Stuck in old ideas of love and grief that have grown so stale as to become something else entirely, the world of Illyria is shocked from Winter into Springtime by the passions of young Viola who disguises herself as a man in order to survive. Called by the late Harold Bloom “the greatest of all Shakespeare’s pure comedies,” this production will be directed by Paul Mullins, one of SCS’s associate artists and the director of The Agitators, Pride and Prejudice, Love’s Labours Lost, The 39 Steps, and Hamlet. Twelfth Night features festival veterans Patty Gallagher, Lorenzo Roberts, Paige Lindsey White, and Charles Pasternak, along with an all-star cast of fresh new faces.

The Tempest

The Tempest
By William Shakespeare
July-August 2022
Live at The Grove
 
The Tempest, by William Shakespeare. Directed by Miriam Laube.
 
SCS’s second Shakespeare play also begins with a shipwreck, though this is one created by design…more specifically, by the magic of Prospero’s tempest. Determined to destroy those who banished her to the island, Prospero weaves spells of illusion and enchantment with the aid of the spirit Ariel to exact her revenge. As love blossoms before her eyes, Prospero must choose between vengeance and hope. Part tale of revenge and part comedy, The Tempest is full of music, spectacle, and the magic of art.  Directed by Miriam Laube, a veteran of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Tempest features Laura Gordon as the magician Prospero.
THE_TEMPEST_SMALL

Local Playwrights Abound!

Local Playwrights Abound!
This year at Santa Cruz Shakespeare is particularly special due to the awe-inspiring talent of Santa Cruz local writers. Not only are we featuring the world premiere of The Formula by Santa Cruz playwright Kathryn Chetkovich (which has received rave reviews from critics and audiences), our staged readings highlight the work of two of Santa Cruz's favorite playwrights, Ian McRae and Kate Hawley. Additionally, the Fringe Show features a play written by local and regional playwright Carol Lashof. 
 
Join us this summer to experience the excitement, brilliance and amazing work of our local playwrights. .
220816 Just Deserts FINAL Small

The Fringe Show

The Fringe Show
Just Deserts by Carol Lashof
An Intern Production
Directed by Rebecca Haley Clark
August 17th and 23rd, 2022 - 7:30 PM
Live at The Grove
 
Come enjoy this retelling of the story of Orestes and the Erinyes (The Furies) from Greek myth.  It's a terrific addition to the season, and particularly links to The Tempest with its exploration of themes of vengeance.

Staged Reading #1 Santa Cruz Local Playwright!

Staged Reading #1 Santa Cruz Local Playwright!

Nasty, Brutish, and Short by Ian McRae

Directed by Rebecca Haley Clark

August 2, 2022 - 7:00 PM
Live at The Grove

Whose story is it? And who has a right to tell it? Where does imagination, empathy, and a desire to do right end, and cultural appropriation begin? These are the questions explored when two playwrights meet in a New York City apartment in Ian McRae’s drama, Nasty, Brutish, and Short.

Staged Reading #2 Santa Cruz Local Playwright!

Staged Reading #2 Santa Cruz Local Playwright!

Simply The Thing She Is by Kate Hawley

Directed by Mike Ryan

August 9, 2022  - 7:00 PM
Live at The Grove

Simply The Thing She Is eavesdrops on three actresses in the dressing room of a repertory theater company, their down to earth Assistant Stage Manager, and their dresser who surprises everyone. The play unfolds the inner lives of all these characters.

Parking at The Grove

Parking at The Grove

Buy a parking pass early, or pay $5 (cash only) at The Grove.

Are you a member with SCS? Members receive special parking privileges.
Click HERE for details about your member benefits. 

SCS Sessions at The Museum of Art and History: A Peek Behind the Curtain

SCS Sessions at The Museum of Art and History: A Peek Behind the Curtain

Bring your lunch to The Garden Room at The MAH at Abbot Square.  Meet our creatives and ask questions about our 2022 productions. Free and open to the public. Space may be limited.

  • July 1st - Spotlight on Directors - 12:00 noon - 1:00 PM (MAH)
  • August 4th - Meet our Acting Company -12:00 noon - 1:00 PM (MAH)
  • August 11th - Focus on the Fringe: Meet our Interns - 12:00 noon - 1:00 PM (MAH)

Literary Salon with Professor Michael Warren July 7th - 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Literary Salon with Professor Michael Warren July 7th - 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Join Santa Cruz Shakespeare's Head of Dramaturgy and Professor
Emeritus of English Literature at UC Santa Cruz, Michael Warren, for a lively and
enlightening talk about the plays presented for Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s 2022
Summer Festival.

Registration required: https://santacruzpl.libcal.com/event/9019393 or call (831) 427-4400 ext. 7791

More information: https://santacruzpl.libcal.com/event/9019393

Santa Cruz Public Library, Downtown Branch, Community Room or via Zoom

Join the Excitement at Santa Cruz Shakespeare!

Join the Excitement at Santa Cruz Shakespeare!

Become a member today to enjoy discounted tickets plus other great perks!

Become a Member