California’s Ventura County Coast: Surf, Style & Shakespeare

 

On a recent visit to this beautiful stretch of the Golden State’s central coast, my family and I reveled in the region’s glorious juxtaposition of urban sophistication with natural beauty.

“I do love nothing in the world so well as you.”

The words, written by William Shakespeare around 1598, resounded in the small theater, a converted church, on a balmy July afternoon, beautifully and simply spoken by an excellent young actor, Seryozha La Porte, playing Signor Benedick opposite the equally excellent Juliet Johnson as Beatrice. I brushed away a tear and smiled, not only because Rubicon Theatre Company’s Much Ado About Nothing was one of the most energetic, polished, and insightful productions of the play I’d ever seen, but also because those words were not being delivered at the Globe Theater in London or in New York’s Central Park, but in beautiful Ventura, California, a few blocks from a perfect Pacific beach and a short walk from a vibrant, bustling historic downtown.

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