Santa Cruz Shakespeare Presents Student Matinee Week And Educators Day

Santa Cruz Shakespeare (SCS) festival tickets go on sale to the general public on May 15 at 12 noon (PST). Repertory performances begin on July 9 through September 1 at the Audrey Stanley Grove in DeLaveaga Park. Tickets can be purchased online at www.santacruzshakespeare.org and at the Box Office at 831-460-6399, Tues. - Fri., 12pm - 5pm. SCS hosts a number of free special events starting June 10 through August 18, director & creative team Q&A's at The Nick, a season preview at Bookshop Santa Cruz and theme nights at The Grove dates & times plus more info. at www.santacruzshakespeare.org.

SCS will captivate audiences with summer performances that offer comedic thrills, mystic revelations, and modern twists. The festival starts with Kate Hamill's off-beat and unique adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice with performances beginning July 9 and directed by returning director Paul Mullins (Hamlet, The 39 Steps, and last season's Love's Labour's Lost). The second mainstage production is Shakespeare's zany showdown The Comedy of Errors starting July 23, directed by acclaimed local director Kirsten Brandt, (previously The Merry Wives of Windsor, 2014). The festival's final repertory production starting August 6 will be Shakespeare's fairy-tale romance The Winter's Tale directed by Raelle Myrick-Hodges (Venus in Fur, 2018) and featuring nationally-renowned Shakespearean actor Ian Merrill Peakes as King Leontes. All productions run in repertory after opening. Santa Cruz Shakespeare will also continue the tradition of showcasing the season's intern acting company with its celebratory Fringe production, The Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher.

Artistic Director Mike Ryan frames the season by saying, The plays of our 2019 Season celebrate the rare and precious gift of second chances. From slapstick to high drama, mistaken identity to personal discovery, SCS will enthrall audiences with stories that lead us towards hope."

Santa Cruz Shakespeare will once again offer a Free Youth Ticket, a program initiated in 2015 to encourage the introduction of Shakespeare to the next generation. The 2019 season will offer to those 18 and under accompanied by a paying adult will receive a free groundling ticket to The Comedy of Errors.

Online: www.santacruzshakespeare.org Box Office: 831-460-6399, Tues. - Fri. 12pm - 5pm.