Santa Cruz Shakespeare Announces 2017 Summer Festival Productions

Santa Cruz Shakespeare is thrilled to announce its 2017 summer season, with repertory performances beginning July 7 and running through August at its new home in DeLaveaga Park.

For its second season in the company's new outdoor venue, The Audrey Stanley Grove in DeLaveaga Park, SCS will kick off summer performances with the hilarious comedy, The 39 Steps, adapted by Patrick Barlow. The 39 Steps opens July 8, featuring the entirety of the 1935 Hitchcock adventure film to be played by only four actors. Measure for Measure, Shakespeare's treatise on the balance of justice and mercy opens July 21 in a co-production with California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes). The production will be performed first in Santa Cruz and then move to CalShakes' Bruns Amphitheater for performances in September and October.

The final mainstage production of the season opens August 4 with The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Shakespeare's sexy comedy of young love, infidelity, and friendship. All three shows run in repertory after opening. Plus, Santa Cruz Shakespeare continues the tradition of showcasing the season's intern Acting Company with its celebratory Fringe production. Tickets go on sale May 15, 2016 with a Santa Cruz Shakespeare Member pre-sale starting May 1, and can be purchased online at santacruzshakespeare.org.

Artistic Director Mike Ryan frames the season by saying, "We are excited to be presenting two Shakespeare plays this season that we last produced more than 18 years ago, along with the Santa Cruz premiere of The 39 Steps. Alfred Hitchcock was a resident of Scotts Valley for many years, and it is a privilege to honor him with this production in the city that inspired a number of his films. The power of theatre rests in community, and I am so excited that this collaboration with the California Shakespeare Theatre will allow the story of Measure for Measure to be shared with Santa Cruz's much larger community, the Bay Area. Together with CalShakes, we affirm that theatre has the power to heal the wounds of division and to teach the power of inclusion that comes from recognizing our shared humanity."

Santa Cruz Shakespeare will once again offer a "Free Youth Ticket" to one of its productions, a program initiated in 2015 to encourage the introduction of Shakespeare to the next generation. This year, those 18 and under accompanied by a paying adult will receive a free groundling ticket to The Two Gentlemen of Verona.