8 Tens @ 8 Tickets Now on Sale
The full 8 Tens @ 8 Festival returns to Actors' Theatre this January!
Two nights of short-plays chosen from hundreds of entries in our International Short-Play Contest offer a varied night of theater, with pieces guaranteed to encourage laughter, evoke emotion, and explore issues to both challenge and entertain you.
We've rolled back our ticket prices to what they were in 2019, and are also offering a special discount for Thursday performances when all tickets are two for the price of one. Tickets are $32 general, $29 students/seniors, with a package deal to see both shows for $58/$54.
8 Tens @ 8 plays January 20 through February 19, 2023. Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays @ 8 pm, and matinees on both Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm. In another change from previous years, both shows will play on Saturdays, one as a matinee and the other as an evening performance, offering a chance for a marathon of short-play goodness, perhaps with dinner in downtown Santa Cruz in between.
View the Performance Calendar here. See the Tickets page or click on the images below to purchase tickets.
Part 1 opens Friday, January 20, and includes the following plays:
MAN'S BEST FRIEND by Tim Lehnert | Directed by Buff McKinley
THE MOST PRECIOUS THING by Amy Dellagriarino| Directed by Sarah Albertson
WONDER PEOPLE by Madeline Puccioni | Directed by Hannah Eckstrom
HONEST 'ABE' MAZULU by Stephen Cooper | Directed by Rebecca Clark
YOUTH FOR DARK by Keith Whalen | Directed by Kathryn Adkins
FATHER MICHAEL'S DOING MASS by Kevin Broccoli | Directed by Jim Schultz
THE TREE by Barbara Anderson | Directed by Evan Hunt
CONFESSIONS, A DEUX by Stephen Cooper | Directed by Helene Simkin Jara
Part 2 opens Saturday, January 21, and includes the following plays:
EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON... RIGHT? by William J Royce | Directed by Cathy Warner
UNREASONABLE SITUATIONS by Lindsey Brown | Directed by Kathie Krotochvil
AN AWKWARD CONVERSATION IN THE SHADOW OF MOUNT MORIAH by John Bavoso | Directed by Karin Babbitt
SOMETHING HOLY IN CROATIA by Steven Haworth | Directed by Marcus Cato
DEATH BRINGS A CASSEROLE by Dan Borengasser | Directed by Peter Gelblum
SLAVE TRADE by Ian Patrick Williams | Directed by Gerry Gerringer
EDDY AND EDNA by Donald Loftus | Directed by Andrew Davids
AN ADVENTURE IN FORMS by Christian Neuhaus | Directed by Wilma Chandler
Don't forget the package deal!
See both shows on the days of your choice for a discount.
Need your theater on a budget?
Add the promo code 2for1 (no spaces) underneath the calendar before you select your seats to get the special pricing on the Thursday shows. Be sure to select the discount tickets ($16) from the dropdown when you choose your seats.
The Mask Thing...
We've gotten some questions about whether Actors' Theatre will be requiring the audience to wear masks during the show. The short answer is yes. Many venues are no longer asking audience members to supply proof of vaccination to attend, and we are also dropping that rule. But masks will still be required in the theater and lobby areas at all times.
A positive Covid test or even a bad flu or cold that runs through the cast has the potential to shut down the whole production for the rest of the run. We've been there, done that, and don't want to do it again. Unlike a movie theater, where the next day's show goes on regardless of whether someone in the audience was infected, a theater production relies on a small group of people who need to be there show after show. We have to protect their health. All of our staff and crew will be wearing masks throughout the run, and actors will only be without a mask when they are on stage.
We get that it can be uncomfortable. We get that many places are no longer making you do it. But if we've learned one thing over the last three years, it's that closing down a production that so many in our theater community have put their time, energy, heart and soul into absolutely sucks, and that is why we are still requiring you to wear a mask. Thanks for understanding.
