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In This Issue...
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Arts & Entertainment
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The Show Goes On: Shakespeare Santa Cruz Survives
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The Mid-County Post > Arts & Entertainment
The Show Goes On: Shakespeare Santa Cruz Survives
By Linda Fridy
Shakespeare Santa Cruz will return in 2010 for its 29th season, announced artistic director Marco Barricelli and UCSC Dean of Arts David Yager at an Oct. 13 press conference. The recent three-play, summer-only season proved that the beloved repertory company can work within a budget and maintain its artistic vision, they said.
The theater company has been on a sort of probation since last December, when the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) required it to raise more than $300,000 as a financial cushion against budget shortfalls before it would agree to sponsor the 2009 season. Previous seasons had left UCSC to cover deficits of about $500,000 and the university said it could no longer underwrite such losses.
When the community responded with more than enough donations — $419,000 from 2,000-plus individual donors — Shakespeare Santa Cruz came up with a leaner model. It reduced its summer productions to three from the previous standard of four shows and ran six weeks rather than seven.
It also eliminated its holiday production.
Although Barricelli did not announce the plays for next season, he and Yager indicated that this new model was a success.
"It's noteworthy given the economy that Shakespeare Santa Cruz could still achieve a high-quality season and really succeed in terms of attendance," said Yager.
Ticket sales reached 88 percent of budgeted goals, which considering the economy is quite outstanding this year.
The Educational Element
Yager joined UCSC in May, and he made it clear that from his perspective, Shakespeare Santa Cruz benefits both the university and the community.
After joking that even the doctor he visited that morning had asked about the theater company's fate, Yager reflected on the experience provided to student interns. Students from other universities take back a positive impression of UCSC after a summer with Shakespeare Santa Cruz, he said, which pays off in future recruitment of both students and faculty.
He and Barricelli spoke of ways to further integrate the company into the university and vice versa.
"There's a treasure trove [at UCSC] of talent that we're looking to bring together with Shakespeare Santa Cruz. The beauty of working with creative people is while you're in difficult times, new ways of thinking about things surface," said Barricelli.
"We will focus in the coming year on continuing to maintain the high quality of the performances, and continuing to integrate the company into thecampus's core academic mission," Yager added.
Neither the quality of the theater company's work nor the group's desire to keep it alive was ever in question, he said. The issue was working within a set budget, and this summer Shakespeare Santa Cruz proved it could do that.
"I am extremely proud that we were able to maintain the level of artistic integrity everyone has come to expect from Shakespeare Santa Cruz, while reining in the expenditures and actually coming in under budget in that regard," said Barricelli.
The extra December fundraising remains in place as a reserve for the budget and as cash flow support, the men noted.
They agreed they are looking forward to creating a long-term, sustainable model for the partnership between the university and the theater company.
"We're in a very, very positive place," said Barricelli.
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