Frequently Asked Questions About Chesapeake Shakespeare Company-In-the-Ruins:

When are performances? 

Click HERE to see the performance schedule.

How much are tickets?
            Adults on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday Matinees:  $25
            Adults on Saturdays and Sundays:  $30
            Seniors:  $23
            Students under 25:  $15
            Kids under 18:  FREE (with a paying adult)

How do I buy tickets?  Just click HERE to pick your performance and purchase your tickets.  Or you can call our friends at TheaterMania toll free at 866.811.4111 and purchase tickets over the phone. 

Are kids really FREE?  Thanks to our generous friends at Booz Allen Hamilton, Wells Fargo and The Allegis Group, ALL CHILDREN UNDER 18 ARE ADMITTED FREE TO ALL PERFORMANCES.  For everyone’s comfort, there must be at least one paying adult for every two children (if you’ve got a third kid and only one paying adult, buy a student ticket).  And if you reserve online or by phone, you MUST reserve the free children’s tickets at the same time (no fee).

Can I buy tickets at the gate?  Yes, although a number of last year’s performances sold out and we had to turn some patrons away.

I want to see both shows!  Do I get a discount?
Absolutely—but only if you pre-order your tickets through Ovation!  You can get tickets to both plays for $45 (no senior or other discounts apply to this offer).  That’s a savings of $15 for Saturday and Sunday shows!  Just tell the ticket sales operator or go online to buy tickets and click here [CAN WE HAVE A LINK HERE?] and select the number of packages you want.  It will then prompt you to select your performances.

How much is the Ticket Service Fee? $2.50 per ticket.  CSC is paying for half of the Ovation ticketing charges this year.  If you reserve a free kid’s ticket, you should not be charged a fee for those tickets at all.  And if you get both shows for $45, you’ll pay a $5 service fee.

What time does the gate open?  90 minutes prior to showtime.  Bring a picnic and enjoy The Show Before The Show.

What are Fun Formal Fridays? Add enchantment to your Friday evening by reserving a small table for two ($25), complete with tablecloth and romantic lighting. 
What are the Extended Versions? Extended Version evenings feature free pre-show talks about the show and post-show question and answer sessions.  Saturday, June 19th features a talk by CSC Education Director Dr. Kevin Costa on Villains, Heroes, and the Comic in Much Ado About Nothing beginning at 7:00pm and Saturday, July 24th features a talk by Dr. Dan Collins on The Truth About Hamlet.  Click here for further information about the summer Extended Versions.

Can I reserve a picnic table?  There are several picnic tables at the back of the audience seating and at some performances they go pretty fast.  If you can’t come early to grab one, just reserve it for $50 and it will be held for you and only you!  These tables seat six adults comfortably.

What about concessions? We offer light concessions provided by Sweet, Bakery and Café at the PFI site this year.    Of course, you’re always welcome to bring your own bountiful picnic as well!

How do Family Performances Work?  At Sunday Family Performances, children of all ages are welcome.  If a baby is crying or a toddler is miserable, there’s lots of space in the park to take a walk.  One of the actors will tell the story of the show to the kids ahead of time, there will be coloring, face painting and meet the actors time.  But patrons without kids are most welcome as well!

What’s happening on the Fourth of July?  We perform Much Ado About Nothing on Independence Day at 5:00, leaving you plenty of time to see one of the many fireworks displays around the area.  We’ll also be playing patriotic music, offering free kids tickets and doing a reading of the Declaration of Independence.

I’m having trouble getting tickets for kids or seniors online.  What am I doing wrong?  It’s not your fault; it’s a trick of the web formatting that we can’t seem to get changed.  After you’ve selected your total number of tickets and clicked enter, you’ll wind up on a page where each ticket says “Regular Admission.”  Simply click on the down-arrow to the right of the box to pull up senior tickets and free kids tickets options.

How do I get to the Patapsco Female Institute Historic Park?
From Columbia and the South:
Take Route 29 North to Route 40 East. Turn right at Rogers Avenue. After 1 mile where Rogers Avenue splits off on the right, bear left and continue straight on the main road, which becomes Courthouse Drive. This road ends at Sarah’s Lane.
From Baltimore and North:
Route 70 West to Route 29 South on the left. Take Route 40 East and turn right onto Rogers Avenue. Proceed as above.
From the West:
Route 70 East to Route 29 South. Take Route 40 East. Proceed as above.

Click here for map

Tell me about the parking situation:
There’s a big lot for patrons to park in at the bottom of the hill.  You may take the shuttle, provided by the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks or walk up the hill.  You are welcome to drop off passengers and picnic baskets at the box office at the top of the hill.  There are also a limited number of handicapped parking spaces in the park itself.

What’s the deal with seating?
CSC provides 200 chairs.  You may also bring your own lawn chair and sit in a designated area or spread a picnic blanket in the area for those.  We have room for about 300 people.  On very full days, we may ask that you not use your own lawn chairs due to space constraints.

Is wine or beer allowed?
You may bring wine or beer to the show, but not purchase it at the park.  The Howard County Liquor Board has a policy that if people are allowed to bring their own alcohol to the park, liquor may not be sold.  Please be cautious with glass in the Park.

Can I bring my dog to the Park?  Dogs are not allowed.

What’s The Show Before The Show?  Each year we have some sort of entertainment before the show—stage combat demonstrations, salsa lessons, poetry readings, or performances from local musicians.

What do you do if it rains?
Boy do we hate rain at CSC.  It’s the thing we hate most about performing outside.  We hate it more than mosquitoes, cicadas, and humidity combined.

We do everything possible to get in the performance, but sometimes, to ensure the safety of our patrons and staff, we have no choice but to cancel.   If the performance has already begun, we will hold the curtain for up to 45 minutes if the radar shows that the storm will pass.  Please note that in the event of lightning, the policy of the Department of Recreation and Parks requires that we must wait for 30 minutes after the last visible lightning strike. 
How do I find out if my performance has been cancelled due to rain, prior to the performance?
Please note we will not make a decision to cancel a performance prior to 2 hours before showtime and only if the forecast/radar looks completely hopeless.  We will post information at the following places:

• The Office Phone line (410.313.8874) will be changed to provide notice of a cancellation.
• We'll Email You: If we have your email address, we'll send notice via email.
• We'll Call You: If we know of our decision in time to call patrons, we'll give our best effort to call as many patrons with tickets for a cancelled performance as we can. This is also why it is important for us to have a phone number that will be answered on the day of performance in our system. We can't guarantee this, but we'll try our best.

If CSC cancels a performance, what happens to my tickets?

We will exchange your tickets into another available performance so that you don't miss a second of great Theatre.  You can call our ticket service, TheaterMania at 866.811.4111 to do this. If for some reason this is not available, we'll present other options at that time, including donating your tickets back to CSC for a tax deductible contribution, refunds, or other choices we may suggest.