Instead of going to a crowded restaurant for Valentine’s Day, try something new and support a good cause at the same time by taking your love to an intimate and unique event: “An Evening with Shakespeare & Love”. Done by the Santa Clarita Shakespeare Festival, it is an evening of food, wine, desserts and a unique and intimate theatrical event.

The event is a revival of a very popular event, started back when Shakespeare in the Park was first established in the Santa Clarita community. Guests arrive and are shuttled to the home where they are treated to wine, beverages, and passed hors d’oeuvre. After check in is complete, the petite buffet will open. After dinner, the audience is divided into groups to view the scenes. After each scene the groups rotate to see the next scene. The scenes are from plays, some of which may be familiar to the audience.

“This is very much like an immersive experience for the audience,” says Erin McBride Africa, the company’s associate artistic director. “Rarely does an audience have an opportunity to be so close to the action. It is as though they are almost part of the scene.”

The funds raised from this event support the company’s Educational Outreach Program, reaching more than 10,000 students each year in local schools throughout the valley. SCSF raises funds to provide free and low cost arts programs brought directly to schools. Last year’s production of Scrooge’s Long Night, was the farthest-reaching production ever to be produced or presented in Santa Clarita.

An Evening with Shakespeare & Love is Saturday February 11 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are very exclusive and limited, and must be purchased in advance. Tickets are $65 and include: music, petite buffet, wine, and desserts. The main event is a theatrical-walkthrough experience with different loves scenes in different rooms throughout the house. For tickets please visit: https://shakespearevalentine.eventbrite.com.

“This is a very exclusive and unique way to celebrate Valentine’s Day”, says David Stears, executive director of the Santa Clarita Shakespeare Festival. “ This is a revival of a very popular event, started back when Shakespeare in the Park was first established in our community.”

The event is only one evening and only one performance. This year the host home for the event is the beautiful rural home of Paul and Eileen Daniels in Sand Canyon. The Daniels’ home is connected to Santa Clarita history: the home site is part of the site that housed the military working at the NIKE site up the road. Their home is comprised of two of the smaller homes originally on the site. Parking for the event will be at Sable Ranch.

For more information about the event, the Shakespeare Festival or the Educational Outreach Program checkout the website at www.scshakespearefest.org, or follow them at facebook.com/SCShakespeareFest.