The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival presents a free run of “Antony and Cleopatra” at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McLaren Park as part of a production running from July 25 through September 27, 2026. Admission is free and no tickets are required, according to the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department.
Directed by Katja Rivera, the production features performers in the story of Roman leader Mark Antony and Egyptian queen Cleopatra, a tale the festival describes as exploring love, loyalty and power. Each performance is presented outdoors.
A Jazz Age Twist on Ancient Rome
The staging focuses on the Roman Empire and Egypt, serving as the mainstage centerpiece of SF Shakes' 2026 season theme, “Empire.” The production follows a spring tour of “Julius Caesar” that played at roughly 100 Bay Area schools.
The festival's production is one example of work by a performing arts nonprofit.
From the Peninsula to San Francisco
This year's regional tour launched in July at Memorial Park Amphitheater in Cupertino and continued in Redwood City before arriving in San Francisco for September dates at both McLaren Park and Sue Bierman Park. At McLaren Park, the production plays at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater before moving downtown.
The Jerry Garcia Amphitheater originally opened in October 1971 as a 1,200-capacity Greek-style outdoor venue inside McLaren Park, San Francisco's second-largest park, and was officially renamed in July 2005 in honor of Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia, who grew up in the adjacent Excelsior neighborhood, per the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department. City officials reopened the amphitheater in September 2021 following a $1.5 million renovation funded by the 2012 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond, which improved accessibility and expanded greenroom storage — upgrades Hoodline covered when the venue's reopening ceremony coincided with an SF Shakes production of “Pericles, Prince of Tyre.”
Downtown Finale at Sue Bierman Park
The production's final stretch moves to Sue Bierman Park for performances on September 19, 20, 26 and 27, according to the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. The production's closing weekend offers a different setting from McLaren Park.
As part of an organization-wide sustainability initiative, SF Shakes no longer prints paper programs. Founded in 1983 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit following a split from the New Shakespeare Company amid federal funding shifts, the festival launched its inaugural Free Shakespeare in the Park program with a production of “The Tempest” and has since expanded from Golden Gate Park across the broader Bay Area, per the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival.
Free public theater of this scale is supported by community donations to stay accessible, while the festival stages productions in municipal amphitheaters across the region. For Bay Area audiences, the “Antony and Cleopatra” run offers a rare chance to see a full Shakespearean tragedy performed free outdoors, capping a season that began with schoolchildren watching “Julius Caesar” at schools across the region before scaling up to a full mainstage production.
