Santa Cruz Shakespeare in 2023: Shrew, Lear & Will

Santa Cruz Shakespeare, a nationally recognized professional theater company in Santa Cruz County with local roots that go back more than 40 years, announces the selection of three plays for its summer 2023 repertory season: Taming of the Shrew, King Lear and Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will. Performances will take place in the Audrey Stanley Grove (The Grove) in DeLaveaga Park in Santa Cruz.

“Over the past nine years, during my tenure as artistic director, we have been confronted with the reality of just how tenuous our democracy is, how eager some factions of our country are to strip away the rights of their fellow citizens, and how authority can be wielded as a weapon,” said Mike Ryan, artistic director, Santa Cruz Shakespeare. “The two Shakespeare plays of our 2023 season plunge us deeply into the middle of the unsettling fragility of our present moment.”

In Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, characters struggle against the roles they have been prescribed, be they by gender, class, or age. While the results of these struggles provide hilarious moments, they leave us with unsettling questions about the human cost of maintaining the status quo. Santa Cruz Shakespeare will take a hard look at what this text has to say today when women’s rights are under attack.

Shakespeare’s King Lear charts a monarch’s disturbing descent into madness, explores how the craving for power can shatter kingdoms and families, and paints a chilling picture of the plight of humanity. King Lear will mark Paul Whitworth’s debut at The Grove in the title role.

“As always, Santa Cruz Shakespeare will infuse classic Shakespeare plays with our own creative and modern variations and surprises, which both delight and enthrall audiences who might expect traditional renditions of the classics,” said Larry Mabrey, managing director, Santa Cruz Shakespeare. “Our 2023 productions will appeal to people of all backgrounds and interests, whether you’re a Shakespeare enthusiast or not.”

Rounding out the season is The Book of Will, an award-winning 2018 play that tells the funny and moving story of the two actors who worked to preserve Shakespeare’s legacy with the first published compilation of the playwright’s works in 1623, seven years after his death.  Mike Ryan, SCS’s current artistic director, and Charles Pasternak, incoming artistic director, will play the roles of John Heminges and Henry Condell, who collected Shakespeare’s texts.

Next year will mark the 400th anniversary of the first printing of Shakespeare’s works, and this production will be part of a broader celebration of that achievement in conjunction with UC Santa Cruz’s Shakespeare Workshop.

Become a member of Shakespeare Santa Cruz to support the 2023 season and its education programs: Student Matinee Program, which brings high school students from Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, and Monterey counties to The Grove to experience live theatre; the new Shakespeare and Social Justice Program; study guides for a selection of Shakespeare’s plays to enhance school curricula; and the Undiscovered Shakespeare Zoom reading each year.

The education programs also support the Fringe Show, an all-intern production giving young artists an opportunity to showcase their talents. SCS Members enjoy pre-sales, ticket discounts, early admission, free parking, free drinks and cushioned seats.

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Tickets will be on sale in early 2023 at https://santacruzshakespeare.org/ or by calling the Box Office at (831) 460-6399.