Filter by category, date, or area. Everything listed is in person, county-wide.
📍 The Landing
🕒 7:30 PM · $20
Despite the play’s title, it’s no secret that families are a mixed bag of joy and sorrow. Even those with the best families face the trials and tribulations that life throws at everyone. Sometimes it brings them closer together. Other times it shatters those bonds like glass on the highway. This Saturday Patti Gassaway performs a one-person comedy (with music by Emily Bond) that takes the audience through the ups, downs, laughter and tears of what it means to be a family. Keeping with the theme of the night, it’s also a fundraiser for The Landing theater family of thespians so they can continue entertaining all who enter. -Mat Weir; Good Times Santa Cruz
📍 Actors' Theatre
🕒 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM · $35
In August 2026, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead will be playing at Actors’ Theatre in Santa Cruz. Written by the late Tom Stoppard, this classic midcentury masterpiece is one of his earliest plays but also likely his best known. Written as a comedy, the work shares substantially with Samuel Beckett’s absurdist style, particularly Waiting for Godot. Performances from August 13th to August 30th, 2026, running Thursday through Sunday. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two minor characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Stoppard crafts an ingenious backstory for these characters, which becomes an exploration of the meaning of life (or death), woven into Shakespeare’s greatest play. The two collegiate friends find themselves traveling to Elsinore, encountering a roving band of actors, a prince (maybe mad), pirates, and never manage to get a grip on anything - even which of them is which. Santa Cruz local talents Chris Salem (Cabaret with Renegade Theater) will be playing Rosencrantz, and Zed Warner (The Addams Family with Mountain Community Theater) will be playing Guildenstern. A host of other fantastic Santa Cruz talents will take on the remaining roles of Shakespeare’s Hamlet including Ward Willats, Ian Dyer, Andy Waddell, Jennifer Stanford, Kevin Karplus, Juno Aliah, Raven Voorhees, Nick Bilardello, Brad Roades, Tom Boyle and Benjamin Canant. Tickets will go on sale July 1st, for an admission fee of $40, $35 for students and seniors, Thursday tickets will be 2-for-1, and there are plans for rush tickets to be available an hour before curtain. Today, audiences can go to https://randg.live/ or follow on instagram @randg.sc for production updates, announcements, and ticket information.
📍 Actors' Theatre
🕒 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM · $35
In August 2026, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead will be playing at Actors’ Theatre in Santa Cruz. Written by the late Tom Stoppard, this classic midcentury masterpiece is one of his earliest plays but also likely his best known. Written as a comedy, the work shares substantially with Samuel Beckett’s absurdist style, particularly Waiting for Godot. Performances from August 13th to August 30th, 2026, running Thursday through Sunday. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two minor characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Stoppard crafts an ingenious backstory for these characters, which becomes an exploration of the meaning of life (or death), woven into Shakespeare’s greatest play. The two collegiate friends find themselves traveling to Elsinore, encountering a roving band of actors, a prince (maybe mad), pirates, and never manage to get a grip on anything - even which of them is which. Santa Cruz local talents Chris Salem (Cabaret with Renegade Theater) will be playing Rosencrantz, and Zed Warner (The Addams Family with Mountain Community Theater) will be playing Guildenstern. A host of other fantastic Santa Cruz talents will take on the remaining roles of Shakespeare’s Hamlet including Ward Willats, Ian Dyer, Andy Waddell, Jennifer Stanford, Kevin Karplus, Juno Aliah, Raven Voorhees, Nick Bilardello, Brad Roades, Tom Boyle and Benjamin Canant. Tickets will go on sale July 1st, for an admission fee of $40, $35 for students and seniors, Thursday tickets will be 2-for-1, and there are plans for rush tickets to be available an hour before curtain. Today, audiences can go to https://randg.live/ or follow on instagram @randg.sc for production updates, announcements, and ticket information.
📍 Mission West
🕒 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM · See listing
Comedy is back at Mission West! After a great reception at the first show, we are back with another great lineup of comedians from all over the Bay Area! Hosted by local comedian Michael Booth, this months show features Marissa Jeanne, Hayden Remi, and headliner Iris Benson. Marissa Jeanne is an up and coming comedian based in San Jose, she has hosted the comedy nights at Acopio in San Jose as well as the Women’s Wrongs open mic at Visual Philosophy Studios. She’s a regular at all the shows in the South Bay. Hayden Remi is the only person from Oakland, CA. He tells quirky jokes about animals and how joining ISIS is a good second date. Hayden has performed at SF Sketchfest, the Cape Fear Comedy Festival and the Cream City Comedy Festival. He also produces Critical Hit, a weekly comedy show at a board game store in Oakland and that's just fine. Iris Benson’s comedy has been described as “Bleak and honest ”, “pleasantly dark”, “wonderfully weird”. Glenn Sumi of Toronto Now described her as “least likable”, “angry” and “misanthropic”. Her deadpan delivery and off-kilter point of view have made people laugh in cities all over the US. She is a Bay Area favorite on many local showcases and invited to many comedy festivals including The Santa Cruz Comedy Festival (Santa Cruz, CA), Cape Fear Comedy Festival (Wilmington, NC) most recently the Idaho Comedy Festival (Boise, ID), the World Series of Comedy (Las Vegas, NV) and The Savage Henry Comedy Festival (Eureka, CA).
📍 Abbott Square Market
🕒 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM · FREE
Come hang out in the secret garden and have some laughs, EVERY MONDAY NIGHT. Featuring comedians from all over the area and beyond.
📍 The 418 Project
🕒 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM · See listing
Contact Improv dance session at The 418 Project in Santa Cruz, offered weekly on Mondays.
📍 Bargetto Winery
🕒 6:30 PM – 8:07 PM · See listing
Join us every Wednesday from 6:30–8pm for a lively evening of brain-teasing fun, hosted by Michael Gaither ! Outside food welcome after 5:30pm — bring your favorite bites, sip on Bargetto wine, and enjoy an evening of laughter and friendly competition. ✨ Two trivia rounds — two chances to win prizes! --- This week’s themes are: local trivia and general trivia --- No cover, just great wine and great company! Soquel Tasting Room Wednesdays | Trivia 6:30–8pm
📍 Actors' Theatre
🕒 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM · $35
In August 2026, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead will be playing at Actors’ Theatre in Santa Cruz. Written by the late Tom Stoppard, this classic midcentury masterpiece is one of his earliest plays but also likely his best known. Written as a comedy, the work shares substantially with Samuel Beckett’s absurdist style, particularly Waiting for Godot. Performances from August 13th to August 30th, 2026, running Thursday through Sunday. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two minor characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Stoppard crafts an ingenious backstory for these characters, which becomes an exploration of the meaning of life (or death), woven into Shakespeare’s greatest play. The two collegiate friends find themselves traveling to Elsinore, encountering a roving band of actors, a prince (maybe mad), pirates, and never manage to get a grip on anything - even which of them is which. Santa Cruz local talents Chris Salem (Cabaret with Renegade Theater) will be playing Rosencrantz, and Zed Warner (The Addams Family with Mountain Community Theater) will be playing Guildenstern. A host of other fantastic Santa Cruz talents will take on the remaining roles of Shakespeare’s Hamlet including Ward Willats, Ian Dyer, Andy Waddell, Jennifer Stanford, Kevin Karplus, Juno Aliah, Raven Voorhees, Nick Bilardello, Brad Roades, Tom Boyle and Benjamin Canant. Tickets will go on sale July 1st, for an admission fee of $40, $35 for students and seniors, Thursday tickets will be 2-for-1, and there are plans for rush tickets to be available an hour before curtain. Today, audiences can go to https://randg.live/ or follow on instagram @randg.sc for production updates, announcements, and ticket information.
📍 Actors' Theatre
🕒 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM · $35
In August 2026, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead will be playing at Actors’ Theatre in Santa Cruz. Written by the late Tom Stoppard, this classic midcentury masterpiece is one of his earliest plays but also likely his best known. Written as a comedy, the work shares substantially with Samuel Beckett’s absurdist style, particularly Waiting for Godot. Performances from August 13th to August 30th, 2026, running Thursday through Sunday. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two minor characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Stoppard crafts an ingenious backstory for these characters, which becomes an exploration of the meaning of life (or death), woven into Shakespeare’s greatest play. The two collegiate friends find themselves traveling to Elsinore, encountering a roving band of actors, a prince (maybe mad), pirates, and never manage to get a grip on anything - even which of them is which. Santa Cruz local talents Chris Salem (Cabaret with Renegade Theater) will be playing Rosencrantz, and Zed Warner (The Addams Family with Mountain Community Theater) will be playing Guildenstern. A host of other fantastic Santa Cruz talents will take on the remaining roles of Shakespeare’s Hamlet including Ward Willats, Ian Dyer, Andy Waddell, Jennifer Stanford, Kevin Karplus, Juno Aliah, Raven Voorhees, Nick Bilardello, Brad Roades, Tom Boyle and Benjamin Canant. Tickets will go on sale July 1st, for an admission fee of $40, $35 for students and seniors, Thursday tickets will be 2-for-1, and there are plans for rush tickets to be available an hour before curtain. Today, audiences can go to https://randg.live/ or follow on instagram @randg.sc for production updates, announcements, and ticket information.
