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Cal Shakes Theater in Orinda closing after 50 years

By and
Updated  October 11, 2024 6:24am PDT
Entertainment
KTVU FOX 2

Cal Shakes Theater's 50-year history could end

Cal Shakes Theater has been a landmark in the hills of Orinda for generations of theater-goers, local actors and production workers.

The Brief

    • Cal Shakes Theater says it faces an "insurmountable financial impasse."
    • The nonprofit's 50-year-history could end without an infusion of funds by the end of the month.
    • Zendaya, Mahershala Ali are among world-renowned actors who performed have performed at the storied outdoor venue.

ORINDA, Calif. - Cal Shakes, a beloved East Bay theater company in Orinda, could face its final act after 50 years.

The theater is grappling with declining donations, fewer grants, and rising costs that have put the nonprofit's finances in an untenable position.

California Shakespeare Theater Executive Director Clive Worsley wrote in an email on Thursday that the theater hit an "insurmountable financial impasse" and there are no other options other than to suspend operations, begin layoffs, and take steps toward what will be the ultimate closure of the company.

"It's heartbreaking for us…we've put a lot of ourselves into this organization and into the work that showed up on stage here," Worsley later told KTVU.

Worsley said in recent years, ticket sales had shrunk to just 30% of the budget compared to 50% in the past.

The revenue shortfall has been combined with rising costs, Worsley said, such as their fire insurance, which increased from $8,000 a year to $48,000 annually.

"We've seen half a dozen theater companies close in the last two years," Worsley said.

World-renowned actors Zendaya and Mahershala Ali got their start at this theater, and Zendaya donated $100,000 to Cal Shakes earlier this year.

"Zendaya started taking acting classes here and working with us," Worsley said, adding that Zendaya's mother was a house manager for many years.

Folks are saddened to see it go.

"I'm very, very devastated to see it closing," said Elizabeth Carter, who directed the 50th anniversary performance. "One of the reasons Cal Shakes is so important is it was some young people's first entryway into theater."

Carter said it's also a loss for the Bay Area's actors, directors, and production teams.

"Less jobs, less opportunity to be on larger stages, to make a living they can survive on," Carter said.

East Bay Municipal Utility District leases the land the theater sits on, which is in a watershed.

"We would love to see them stay," said EBMUD spokesperson Andrea Pook. "In the long run, if we don't get someone in there, then that land which is currently watershed land, would revert to watershed land."

The theater community hopes this curtain call will be a rallying cry to the community, for someone to make a miracle happen with an angel investment to keep the Cal Shakes tradition going.

Worsley says Friday is the last day for half of the remaining 20 staff members, and Cal Shakes is working with attorneys in the coming weeks to determine the next steps.

The San Francisco Chronicle noted that Cal Shakes was one of the largest nonprofit theaters in the Bay Area; and it joins Cutting Ball Theater, PianoFight, Bay Area Children’s Theatre, TheatreFIRST and the Exit Theatre’s Eddy Street facility in shutting its doors. 

Jana Katsuyama is a reporter for KTVU. Email Jana at jana.katsuyama@fox.com. Call her at 510-326-5529. Or follow her on Twitter @JanaKTVU and read her other reports on her bio page.