About Central Coast Shakespeare Festival
Central Coast Shakespeare Festival (CCSF) is an outdoor theatre that specializes in Shakespeare and classical works. We bring professionally produced performances under the stars, making the magic of Shakespeare accessible for everyone.
"the past is prologue" -The Tempest
A Brief History of CCSF
Founded in 1991 as a subsidiary of Artemis – a Theatre Company, we began performing at the Leaning Pine Arboretum within Cal Poly's ornamental horticulture unit. After Artemis dissolved in 1997, the Festival became its own non-profit theater company, producing Measure for Measure and As You Like It at Cal Poly. Soon after, we embarked on a journey to find a new performance space. The community rallied, and we secured a temporary home at the San Luis Obispo City Playhouse, where we produced our 1998–2002 seasons indoors. A few special weekends of outdoor performances at Camp Ocean Pines in Cambria revealed the magic of performing outdoors.
In 2003, our dream of an outdoor performance space was realized when Bellevue Santa Fe Charter School welcomed us. Performing outdoors in the balmy Central Coast summers became a reality, and we produced five seasons there before moving to River Oaks Amphitheater in Paso Robles in 2009. Five beautiful summer seasons followed in Paso Robles. Ever the intrepid band of traveling players, we finally found our permanent home at Filipponi Ranch in 2014.
The Central Coast Shakespeare Festival (CCSF) is committed to providing professional, entertaining productions of Shakespeare's work as well as other timeless and classical stories.
We believe:
-
In nurturing future theatre-going audiences
-
In providing local artists with the opportunity to work alongside visiting professionals
-
In the power of live theater to change lives—for both artists and audiences
-
In enriching the cultural life of the Central Coast
-
That work is love made visible
-
That theatre should be fun, clear, and accessible
-
That watching theater outdoors, with a delicious picnic and a fine glass of wine, is about as good as it gets
-
And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we believe in spit takes
Come and join our theatre family
CCSF On Video
Past Productions
All the Worlds a Stage
2024
King Lear
2023
Love's Labour's Lost
2022
Cyrano de Bergerac
2021
The Riot of the Tipsy Bacchanals or Wonderous Ice and Strange Snow
2019
Twelfth Night
Treasure Island
2018
As You Like It
The Three Musketeers
2017
Much Ado About Nothing
Almost, Maine
2016
Romeo and Juliet
The Importance of Being Earnest
2015
The Winter's Tale
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
2014
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Taming of the Shrew
2011
As You Like It
The Comedy of Errors
2012
The Tempest
2013
Love's Labor's Lost
2010
The Gamester
Twelfth Night
2009
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Treasure Island
2008
Hiatus, searching for a new home
2007
The Taming of the Shrew
Richard III
2006
The Three Musketeers
Macbeth
2005
Cyrano de Bergerac
Twelfth Night
2004
Much Ado About Nothing
Romeo and Juliet
2003
A Midsummer Night's Dream
As You Like It
2002
Love's Labor's Lost
The Taming of the Shrew
2001
Hamlet
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
2000
Twelfth Night
The Merry Wives of Windsor
1999
The Merchant of Venice
The Comedy of Errors
1998
Much Ado About Nothing
The Tempest
1997
Measure for Measure
As You Like It
Location
Filipponi Ranch
1850 Calle Joaquin
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
Show Times
Fri : 7:30 pm
Doors open at 6:30 pm
Sat-Sun: 6:00 pm
Doors open at 5:00pm