Spring has different associations for different people. Some look forward to the warmer weather - which seems to be coming a little later than usual this year - while others look forward to upcoming summer activities. Students begin to get antsy about leaving school (as do the teachers, if they admit it) and there seems to be a renewed promise in the air of things to come. For me, it’s time for Shakespeare by the Sea in San Pedro.

David Graham

I don’t live in San Pedro. In fact, I’m not sure I would have come to know San Pedro as I do had it not been for Shakespeare by the Sea. In 2002, a friend of mine was directing Much Ado About Nothing for SBTS and called to ask if I could step in to fill a role for an actor who was unable to continue. I’ve been making the drive from West LA to San Pedro fairly regularly ever since.

But we were talking about Spring. Spring is San Pedro but it is also Shakespeare. I am involved with Shakespeare in many different ways: I am one of the above-mentioned antsy teachers so I have the sometimes arduous but usually rewarding task of lifting the Bard (whose plays have been around for nearly 500 years) from the page and trying to place him in the hearts and minds of the 14 to 16 year old students I teach.

I have also directed five of the productions for Shakespeare by the Sea in the last seven years. And now I am rehearsing as an actor for the upcoming productions for this season, Julius Caesar and Twelfth Night. As you can see, my commitment to Will has been fairly steady.

And Spring this year is just like the Spring seasons that have come before it in many ways - the kids are antsy again (I am too, I admit it), I’m in rehearsal again, I’m doing Shakespeare again and I’m driving to San Pedro practically every day.

But just like Spring itself, this year’s season is a brand new experience - even though the dance is old, Spring teaches us a new step each time. Even though there are old friends in the cast, there are new ones, too; even the drive brings different experiences.

Something new always happens with these old plays though I’ve read them hundreds of times.

Spring, San Pedro and Shakespeare - a combination I find myself looking forward to each year.

David Graham is an SBTS Board Member, Director and 2010 Cast Member

Shakespeare by the Sea’s 2010: Twelfth Night, directed by Amy Louise Sebelius, will open Thurs., June 10 at 8 pm, and Julius Caesar, directed by Stephanie Coltrin, opens the following Thurs., June 17 at 8 pm, then both continue in repertory Thurs-Sat. at Point Fermin Park through July 3 and then tour LA and Orange Counties through Aug. 12. Final performances will be in Point Fermin on Aug. 13-14. For complete schedule and location information visit www.shakespearebythesea.org.