May 20, 1999
Contact: Barbara McKenna (831) 459-2495

Shakespeare Santa Cruz lauded by the press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Word is getting out to the rest of the world that some of the country's best theater takes place right here in Santa Cruz during Shakespeare Santa Cruz's annual summer festival. In what smacks of a very Shakespearean coincidence, two newspapers recently came out with different but related stories that both applauded the theater company.

The first round of praise came from San Francisco Chronicle theater critic Steven Winn, who wrote an article on the ten best actors in the San Francisco Bay Area. One of Winn's favorites is Paul Whitworth, artistic director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz and a professor of theater arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Of Whitworth, Winn said, "In 15 seasons with the company [Whitworth] has played kings, fools and lovers with an authority unmatched by any actor doing Shakespeare in the region. It's tempting to call his command of the verse instinctive, but that's too easy in the face of his singular intelligence and passion."

Meanwhile, of more than 130 known Shakespeare festivals in the U.S., Shakespeare Santa Cruz was singled out as one of the best in North America in a recent story in USA Today. The paper may not be best known for its high cultural sensibility, but the source they relied on certainly is. That source is Libby Appel, artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, considered the country's premiere venue for Shakespeare.

Along with SSC, Appel named eight other outstanding festivals, most of which operate in large metropolitan areas and with far larger budgets than SSC. They were the Alabama Shakespeare Festival; the New York Shakespeare Festival; San Diego's Old Globe Theatre; Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass.; Chicago Shakespeare Theater; the Shakespeare Theater in Washington, D.C.; the Utah Shakespeare Festival; and Ontario's Stratford Festival.

This year SSC is presenting Romeo and Juliet, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw. The season runs July 15-August 29, presenting 12 evening and matinee performances every Tuesday through Sunday. Tickets are available now and can be purchased by calling (831) 459- 2159, or online at http://shakespearesantacruz.org. Tickets will also be available through BASS ticket outlets beginning July 1.

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