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San Francisco Shakespeare festival
The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival is auctioning off costume pieces from its upcoming production of "Antony and Cleopatra" in a first-of-its-kind fundraiser called "Fancy Extras."
SAN FRANCISCO - Halloween is months away, but the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival is already giving people a reason to think about costumes — and a chance to support Bay Area theater at the same time.
Stage memorabilia
Dig deeper:
The festival is auctioning off select costume pieces from its summer production of "Antony and Cleopatra" in a fundraiser called "Fancy Extras."
Winning bidders will get to keep the crowns, peacock fans, and beaded shawls after the season wraps up in September — but not before watching the actors perform in them.
Artistic Director Carla Pantoja said the idea came about organically.
"It started off with our director putting a picture of these peacock fans up in our Slack space and our executive director was excited about it," Pantoja said. "That got her thinking — what if other people would love to buy some of these wish list items?"
The production
The backstory:
The production is set in a 1920s Art Deco style, making the pieces wearable well beyond the stage.
Costume designer Lyra Alston and prop designer Heidi Budden sourced most items from Etsy, including a beaded cape coming from England and a leather messenger bag.
A peacock fan Pantoja brought to the interview had already drawn attention from viewers.
The fundraiser is also a practical one. Items are only ordered once a bid is placed — meaning the festival avoids spending money it hasn't yet raised.
"Just like a lot of nonprofits nowadays, we do have to mind our budget," Pantoja said. "That's why we're calling these fancy extras."
For those who don't need a costume piece but still want to give, a donation link is available alongside the auction items.
"Antony and Cleopatra" is the second production of the festival's Season of Empire. The first, "Julius Caesar," was directed by April Ballesteros and toured Bay Area schools with roughly 80 performances. Director Katya Rivera chose "Antony and Cleopatra" as the follow-up — a play set approximately 13 years after the events of "Julius Caesar."
What's next:
Bidding for the Fancy Extras closes July 1st.
Free Shakespeare in the Park runs July 25th through September 27th, with performances in San Francisco, Cupertino, and Redwood City.
More information is available at sfshakes.org.
The Source: Interview with Carla Pantoja, Artistic Director, SFShakes