Cupertino’s annual Shakespearean performances at Memorial Park might have seen their final act.
Organized by the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, a nonprofit performing arts group, the 90-minute shows have been free to residents every summer for almost 30 years.
But this year, because of a major blow to their budget, Cupertino isn’t setting aside its usual $30,000 to finance the production. The decision has the nonprofit scrambling to raise roughly $22,500 by March 31 or risk canceling this summer’s production of “The Tempest.”
The city’s decision to cut the money out of the 2024-25 budget was made last year, which is the typical process for budget deliberations. Toby Leavitt, executive director of the festival, said the organization has known about the loss for a while and has been trying to raise the funds since October 2023.
“We’re very grateful to the city for adding us back into the budget for last (cycle),” Leavitt said. “But they made it very clear that future funds, including for this summer, would not be available.”
Located along Stevens Creek Boulevard just east of Highway 85, Memorial Park’s amphitheater has long been the site of “Free Shakespeare in the Park,” where live actors perform a different Shakespeare play each July and August.
A majority of the $30,000 the city has traditionally contributed goes toward mounting the production, designing and building sets and rehearsing the play. If the money cannot be raised in time, the roughly $7,500 the group has raised already will have to be returned to donors, Leavitt said. The festival puts on similar productions in Redwood City and San Francisco that are funded by their respective cities. Those shows will not be impacted and are expected to go on as scheduled.
The cutback comes amid a major hit to the city’s budget. Apple, which is headquartered in Cupertino, has treated all online purchases of products within California as if they were made in the city, setting aside the 1 percentage point local portion of the 7.25% state sales tax for Cupertino, city officials previously stated.
In 2021, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration notified the city that an audit was being conducted on a large taxpayer. Apple isn’t identified in city reports as the audited taxpayer, but city leaders in public meetings have indicated the tech titan was the target of the audit. Last year, the administration deemed the company’s sales tax arrangement improper. As a result, Cupertino is expected to experience an ongoing 73%, or $30 million, decline in sales tax revenue, equivalent to an overall reduction in total revenue of 28%, according to the city.
The loss is felt in the city’s General Fund, which supports entities including public works, community development and parks and recreation, where Shakespeare in the Park money comes from. The revenue mainly comes from taxes, including property, sales and transient occupancy taxes.
“We will reevaluate (Free Shakespeare in the Park) every year like we do all our other programs,” Mayor Sheila Mohan said. “We’ll consider it and probably bring it back when the budget situation improves or becomes a little more stable.”
The festival could look for another nearby South Bay city to host their productions, but Leavitt said they are intent on continuing their partnership with Cupertino.
“The focus right now is very much on doing our best to leverage our 30 years of partnership together,” she said. “We could look in the future at a different location, but we’re intent on making this happen with this community this summer.”
So far, larger donations have come from the Cupertino Library Foundation, which provides financial support for educational and cultural programs in collaboration with the city’s library, and the San Jose Water District.
Foundation boardmember Orrin Mahoney said the nonprofit is committed to donating at least $5,000 to keep the production going.
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“This thing has been in the city forever,” he said. “It’s one of those things — if it’s gone, it’s gone.”
As a former Cupertino mayor and council member, Mahoney took part in previous fundraisers and events put on by the festival. He makes an effort to go every year to the performances with his wife. Sometimes they bring along sandwiches and drinks and have a little picnic.
“Ordinarily I wouldn’t go to Shakespeare types of things, but it’s just a really nice venue.” he said.
Leavitt hopes more local donors will recognize the importance of having a “Free Shakespeare in the Park” program and help pitch in.
“We’re ready to continue,” she said. “The city, the audience and the artists are all ready.”
