Season 2026-2027
Five shows. One season. Zero excuses to miss a single one.
Our 48th Season — “California: Here and Now” — is bursting with stories that are funny, heartbreaking, thrilling, and utterly alive. A celebrity comedy. A rock musical. A world premiere. A Pulitzer Prize–winning moral thriller starring Mimi Rogers. And a Sam Shepard masterpiece. All of them rooted right here in the state we love.
California has always been where America reinvents itself — where dreams are made, sold, and sometimes hilariously deflated. This season, we’re holding a mirror up to all of it: the hustle and the heartbreak, the celebrity and the everyman, the mythology and the mess.
Here’s what’s coming — and why each one belongs on your calendar right now.
SINGLE TICKETS NOW ON SALE
Buyer & Cellar — by Jonathan Tolins
📅 October 7 – 25, 2026
Imagine landing the strangest job of your life: running a shop in the private basement mall that Barbra Streisand built inside her Malibu estate — and your only customer is Barbra herself. This wickedly funny, warmly theatrical solo comedy is a meditation on celebrity, fantasy, and the peculiar glamour of California dreams. It will make you laugh out loud and think long after you leave.
Rent — Music, Lyrics & Book by Jonathan Larson
📅 December 2 – 20, 2026
It’s been 30 years, and Rent is still electric. This Tony Award–winning rock musical about love, loss, friendship, and living life to the fullest will shake the rafters at The New Vic. Resonating with California’s own LGBTQ+ history and counterculture spirit, this one is going to be loud, joyful, and absolutely not to be missed. Bring your people.
The Last Used Car Lot in America — A World Premiere Musical
📅 February 3 – 21, 2027
A deeply human, funny, and poignant new musical set at a family-owned used car dealership fighting to survive in a changing world. Love, loyalty, and a disappearing way of life play out against a landscape as restless as California itself. I am so proud to give this one its first breath.
DOUBT — by John Patrick Shanley
📅 April 7 – 25, 2027
Mimi Rogers stars as Sister Aloysius Beauvier in John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize– and Tony Award–winning masterpiece — a riveting moral chess match in a 1964 Bronx Catholic school, where one nun’s whispered suspicion about a charismatic young priest detonates into the season’s most direct question: how do we ever really know what we know? Darkly funny, bone-deep, and the kind of theatre you’ll argue about all the way home.
True West — by Sam Shepard
📅 June 2 – 20, 2027
Two brothers. One suburban Southern California kitchen. And one of the most explosive, darkly hilarious confrontations in American theatre. As a clean-cut Hollywood screenwriter and his drifter brother swap identities and tear each other — and the kitchen — apart, Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize–winning masterpiece asks hard questions about who we really are beneath the California dream.
Bonus Performances on sale soon...
Hershey Felder: Love Notes — World Premiere
Add-On Engagement
📅 February 25 – March 7, 2027
Hershey Felder has wowed ETC audiences before — and now he’s back with a new world premiere. Love Notes takes you to 1853 Düsseldorf, where a young Johannes Brahms falls into the orbit of Robert and Clara Schumann in a sweeping romantic story told through some of the most beautiful music ever written. This is a once-in-a-lifetime theatrical event. Subscribers get first crack at tickets.
National Theatre Live — Screening Series at The New Vic
Three more extraordinary productions from the National Theatre of Great Britain, on the big screen right here at home. World-class London theatre without the airfare. Titles and dates coming soon at etcsb.org. Subscribers get priority access.
Ticket Information
SUBSCRIBER BENEFITS
A season subscription doesn’t just save you money, it puts you first in line for everything great happening at ETC:
- Best available seats, reserved before the general public even knows they’re on sale
- Flexibility to freely exchange your performance dates
- Subscribers get 15% off additional tickets purchased to any of ETC’s productions and season add-ons
- Priority access to add-on tickets to Hershey Felder: Love Notes (a World Premiere) and National Theatre Live screenings before they go on sale to anyone else
- Peace of mind: all five shows, locked in, on your calendar, ready to look forward to
- The satisfaction of supporting live professional theatre in Santa Barbara — which genuinely matters
Are you a current subscriber looking to renew? Please call the box office for assistance. 805-965-5400
35-and-Under subscriptions are available by calling the box office.
Box Office/Theater Location
33 West Victoria Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Phone: 805-965-5400
Email: boxoffice@etcsb.org
Hours:
Tues. – 1:00-5:00
Wed. – 1:00-5:00
Thurs. – 1:00-5:00
Fri. – 1:00-5:00
Sat. – 1:00-5:00
Open one hour before curtain on performance days
Plays, artists, dates and prices may be subject to change.
5-Play Subscription: $190 – $535
Save money and enjoy the many benefits available to our subscribers.
Preview Subscription: $190 – $260
Be the first to see our production during one of our preview performances.
35-and-Under Series $175 – $375
Theatergoers 35 and under and full-time students enjoy an even greater discount when subscribing to the entire season. (I.D. Required)
Flex-Pass Series $190 – $470
Juggling a hectic schedule? Choose our flex plan, enjoy the same subscriber savings, and decide your performance date until show time. (Subject to availability at the time of request)
Interested in a smaller subscription package? Choose 3 or 4 plays in our season and enjoy the same benefits of a 5-play subscription. Call the box office for pricing and details.
To enrich your theatre experience and gain deeper insights into our productions, we invite you to explore our engaging special event nights and informative educational talks, designed to complement each performance.
Opening Night Series
Join us for our opening night performance on the first Saturday of each production! Includes a post-performance reception with the cast and complimentary food and drinks.
Pre-Show Talk Series
A free, lively, and informative half-hour talk in The New Vic courtyard before each Wednesday evening performance. Enhance your theater-going experience with background information on the play you are about to see.
TeaTalk Matinee Series
The final Wednesday matinee series invites you to a half-hour conversation in the New Vic courtyard before the 2 p.m. performance. Guest scholars will share their insights on topics particular to each production over a cup of tea.
Pride Night Series
Bring your friends, grab a spirit, and socialize before the show! The second Thursday of each production features a complimentary cocktail in The New Vic courtyard.
Talk-Back Series
Immediately following each production’s final Thursday performance, meet members of the cast and participate in an informal discussion about the show.
Cocktail Night
Bring your friends, grab a spirit, and socialize before the show! The second Friday of each production features a complimentary cocktail in The New Vic courtyard.
3 Ways to Subscribe
New subscriptions are available to order online. 35-and-under subscriptions are available in person or by calling the box office. Current subscribers must renew in person or over the phone.
BY PHONE or IN-PERSON:
Box Office Phone: (805) 965-5400
Box Office Address:
33 West Victoria Street, Santa Barbara
Box Office Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday from 1 pm to 5 pm
and 1 hour before performance time.
Please note: Plays, dates, and artists are subject to change. All sales are final. Payments will be processed shortly after they are received.
If you have already purchased your subscription, season tickets will be out for delivery in mid-September.
Single tickets for the 2026-27 Season will go on sale August 1, 2026, and range from $40 to $119.
Subscribers: 15% off additional tickets
Full-time students and educators: $25-$75 tickets
Under 35: $35 – $75 tickets
Military (active duty or retired) with ID: 20% off
Seniors: $5 off
Groups 10-24: 15% off and no processing fees
Groups 25-49: 20% off and no processing fees
Actors’ Equity members (with membership card): 50% off
Dramatists Guild members (with membership card, in person only): 2 comps
The More the Merrier!
Save 15% to 25%
If you have 10 or more people, you’re a group! We host groups of all different types, including schools, active adult communities and senior centers, churches and synagogues, tour groups and fundraisers, professional organizations and businesses, social clubs, and family reunions.
Why attend as a group?
Spectacular Savings — Discounts of 15% to 25%, depending on group size.
Priority Reservations — Ordering early is the easiest way to ensure your group gets the best seats at the best price.
Free Promotional Materials — Posters, flyers, show information—let us help you promote your Ensemble Theatre Company event!
Fundraisers: Non-Profits may purchase group tickets at a discounted rate and resell them at a premium to generate revenue. Your organization may also host a reception before the show to add value and enhance the experience. Contact the box office for more information.
BOOK YOUR GROUP
Call: 805-965-5400
Email Us
Theater Tickets Make Great Gifts!
Ensemble Theatre Company gift certificates do not expire, and may be redeemed for any ETC production or education class.
For the health, safety, and well-being of our patrons, staff, and artists, ETC has upgraded our theater’s ventilation system to meet current standards, including upgrading our filters, increasing filter replacement, and bringing in 40% outdoor air. Lobby restrooms have additional air-purifying stations, and the lobby has hand-sanitizing stations. The New Vic is thoroughly cleaned and sanitized on a regular basis.