Stage

Scrooge confronts the Spirit of Christmas Past in Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s A Christmas Carol

Ties That Bind

December 17, 2025

Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s A Christmas Carol fills the Veterans Memorial Hall with carols, humor and heartfelt warmth, inviting audiences of all ages into Dickens’ enduring story of compassion and renewal.

Music for the Solstice

Inventive and engaging, Opera Project lit up the Woodhouse Brewery—one of several memorable performances marking the year’s end.

Aye, Aye, Captain

The most lovable sponge in the universe is coming to UCSC. The SpongeBob Musical is set to premiere on Nov. 14, with performances continuing through the 23rd. It’s a wacky play with subversive undertows.

Eternal Questions

In 'Metamophosis' a collection of vignettes runs its ensemble through a gauntlet of characters, transforming from gods to men and back again. At the Black Box Theater, November 1–16

Challenge Accepted

Bravo to a director who trusts the intelligence of his audience and offers us ‘Pericles,’ the rarely performed work of a Renaissance genius, writes theater critic Christina Waters.

Reading Rainbow

Mountain Community Theater’s annual New Works Weekend returns to Park Hall Aug. 15–17, offering three nights of script-in-hand staged readings spotlighting local playwrights.

Regency Romance

Midsummer Ensemble is returning with a fresh and humorous exploration of Pride and Prejudice under the direction of company veterans Molly Craft and Molly Meyers.

Enchanting ‘Woods’

Santa Cruz Shakespeare has taken Stephen Sondheim’s great gift to musical theater literally ‘Into the Woods’ with a production that is brisk, clever and loaded with the texture of human fears and dreams.

Expansion Mode

Charles Pasternak talks about Santa Cruz Shakespeare's first musical offering, Pericles, adding a fourth play, and expanding the season.

Peddling Influence

Jennifer Kehl's one-woman show pokes fun at not only the social media craze but also how the crass consumerism of internet culture affects the environment.

Lending Support

Renegade Theater Co. is back with another fundraiser: Stop Kiss, a play about two women falling in love against the backdrop of a violent hate crime.

Too Fast to Live

An old favorite Broadway play has gotten a facelift. Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: A New Musical is being produced by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.