Shakespeare by the Sea returns to LA and Orange counties for 26th season

Shakespeare by the Sea will bring the Bard’s timeless tales to Los Angeles and Orange counties once again this summer, with the traveling theater troupe set to begin its 26th season this week.

The troupe will open its seasonal run on Thursday, June 22, with the comedy “Twelfth Night” at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro. A week later, it will stage the tragedy of “Hamlet”  at the same park.

Throughout the summer, Shakespeare by the Sea will visit venues throughout LA and Orange counties, including Aliso Viejo, Beverly Hills, Cerritos, Hermosa Beach, Long Beach, Manhattan Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rossmoor, Santa Ana, South Pasadena and Torrance.

Longtime collaborators and co-producers Suzanne Dean and Stephanie Coltrin have taken over as co-artistic directors of the admission-free theater company, which Lisa Coffi founded in 1998. Coffi retired after SBTS’s 2022 season, but her legacy has survived.

“I really give big credit to Lisa for for creating something that lives past her tenure,” Coltrin said. “A lot of people would just say, you know, I’m done. But she specifically wanted to create something that would go on.”

Coltrin will direct “Hamlet” and this time, she said, it’s personal.

When she first directed “Hamlet” in 2014, Coltrin said, she focused on the madness surrounding the titular Danish prince.

Shakespeare’s well-known tragedy tells the story of a brooding Hamlet, whose father’s ghost seeks revenge for his murder. Hamlet attempts to take action on what he knows is the truth — that his uncle Claudius murdered his father and married his mother. But Hamlet is infamously indecisive.

Coltrin reread the classic play when her father was dying last year and found a different meaning, she said. This time, she saw it more as a production about the grief of a child losing a parent.

“Shakespeare wrote it right after his son died, when he was actually writing ‘Twelfth Night’ around the same time,” Coltrin said. “So there’s a lot of exploration of grief in both of these plays.”

In the romantic comedy “Twelfth Night,” a shipwreck leads to hidden identities, a love triangle and chaos. The comedy will be Patrick Vest’s directorial debut for Shakespeare by the Sea.

SBTS is trying to bring a “little sense of love and community and acceptance” to this staging of the play, Vest said.

“When you think of what what got us through some of our darkest times, it was the television shows like ‘Ted Lasso’ or ‘Making It,’ really uplifting, lovely, caring people caring for each other,” Vest said. “And so we’re trying to bring that to our ‘Twelfth Night.’”

But bringing Shakespeare to the masses isn’t easy.

The nonprofit theater company, which survives mainly through grants and donations, has seen its costs increase substantially since the onset of the pandemic. It’s hit every aspect of the business, Dean said. And that’s led to smaller casts and fewer productions.

At its peak, SBTS would have 24 people in its cast; this year, it has 16. Instead of 23 cities and 42 performances, the company is down to 14 cities and 29 performances.

But reducing the cast and performances hasn’t hurt the production quality, Dean said. She pointed to the set design by Coltrin’s husband, Christopher Beyries, and talented cast members who play multiple roles to scale back production costs.

“I think audiences are going to experience the same thing that they have year after year,” Dean said, “really fun, enjoyable nights watching Shakespeare.”

What Shakespeare by the Sea does best, she said, is combine a lot of good things: the joy of being outside; time spent with your neighbors, friends and family; and great storytelling.

Selected 2023 schedule

For Shakespeare by the Sea’s full 2023 schedule — including its visits to Manhattan Beach, Rossmoor, Santa Ana, South Pasadena, and other cities in LA and Orange Counties — got to shakespearebythesea.org.

Point Fermin Park, 807 Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro:

• “Twelfth Night,” 8 p.m. June 22-24, July 6 and 8, and Aug. 4.
• “Hamlet,” 8 p.m.  June 29 and 30, July 1 and 7, and Aug. 5.

Hesse Park, 29301 Hawthorne Blvd., Rancho Palos Verdes:

• “Twelfth Night,” 7 p.m. July 9.

Valley Park,  2521 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach:

• “Twelfth Night,” 7 p.m. July 12.
• “Hamlet,” 7 p.m. July 13.

Cesar Chavez Park, 401 Golden Ave., Long Beach

• “Twelfth Night,” 7 p.m. July 14.

Source: Orange County Register