Thinking Shakespeare Live! Returns in July

The Old Globe announces its
popular annual event
THINKING SHAKESPEARE LIVE!
is back in person

Hosted and directed by
Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein

For one date only on
Sunday, July 17 at 11:00 a.m.

Tickets go sale May 20!

PHOTO EDITORS: Photos of THINKING SHAKESPEARE LIVE! can be found here.

SAN DIEGO (May 5, 2022) The Old Globe is thrilled to announce the return and in-person presentation of its popular annual event Thinking Shakespeare Live! Directed by the Globe’s Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, Thinking Shakespeare Live! will be held on Sunday, July 17, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Tickets initially go on sale to subscribers and donors on May 6 and are available at www.TheOldGlobe.org.

Drawn from Edelstein’s approachable and inviting book Thinking Shakespeare: A How-To Guide for Student Actors, Directors, and Anyone Else Who Wants to Feel More Comfortable with the Bard, Thinking Shakespeare Live! will feature Edelstein, who will be joined by three professional classical actors. This program is an ideal introduction to Shakespeare for families and young audiences as well as an exciting new look at the playwright for Bardophiles. Edelstein has performed Thinking Shakespeare Live! across the country, including at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC.

“I am so excited once again to share Thinking Shakespeare Live! with our audiences, back in person and in three dimensions,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “This fun and fast-moving 90-minute program is an introduction to how Shakespeare’s language works in the minds and on the tongues of professional actors who work on his plays. I love helping people find new connections to these plays, and it’s a joy to offer a glimpse behind the scenes of the Globe’s important and entertaining Shakespeare work.”

In addition to serving as Artistic Director at the Globe, Edelstein is a renowned stage director, producer, and educator. He has directed over half of the Bard’s plays. Among his Globe directing credits are The Winter’s Tale, Othello, The Twenty-Seventh Man, the world premiere of Rain, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, and Romeo and Juliet, among others. He oversaw The Old Globe’s inaugural Classical Directing Fellowship program. Prior to joining the Globe, Edelstein was the Director of the Shakespeare initiative at The Public Theater (New York City), and the Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company (New York City). His book Thinking Shakespeare is considered the standard text on American Shakespearean acting.

Thinking Shakespeare Live! is a key part of the Globe’s annual Shakespeare Festival in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, held each summer. This year’s offerings include The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare’s masterful comedic take on the battle of the sexes, directed by Shana Cooper, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Bard’s most joyful and popular comedy, directed by Patricia MacGregor. The Taming of the Shrew will be staged June 5 through July 10, 2022, with the opening on Saturday, June 11. A Midsummer Night’s Dream will run July 31 to September 4, 2022, with the opening on Saturday, August 6.

The Old Globe, one of America’s leading Shakespeare theatres, recently announced that it will complete the production of Shakespeare’s canon in the theatre’s 2023 Season. As part of an ambitious large-scale project, the Globe will produce Henry 6, a new two-play adaptation of Henry VI, Parts I, II, and III, directed and adapted by Edelstein. The Shakespeare canon is considered to compromise 36 plays (37 if The Two Noble Kinsman—which the Globe has produced—is included). Of those, the Globe has already produced all except the Henry VI trilogy. By producing these three works as part of the 2023 Summer Shakespeare Festival, the Globe joins the small list of North American theatre companies that have assayed every single Shakespeare play. In celebration of this milestone, The Old Globe will present an array of free, citywide arts engagement and humanities events leading up to and accompanying Henry 6. The theatre will also offer reduced-price and no-cost tickets to maximize access for San Diegans. Henry 6 will include opportunities for interested San Diegans to participate in the making of the production.

Tickets for Thinking Shakespeare Live! go on sale to subscribers and donors on Friday, May 6at 12:00 noon, and to the general public on Friday, May 20at 12:00 noon. Tickets will be available online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE (234-5623), or in person at our Box Office in Balboa Park. Regular ticket prices start at $15. For additional information, visit www.TheOldGlobe.org.

In alignment with the State of California, which has removed mask and vaccine requirements for indoor events, The Old Globe will not require patrons to provide proof of vaccination or to wear masks while attending shows or events in either our indoor or outdoor venues. However, the theatre still strongly recommends mask-wearing while at the Globe, and patrons should feel comfortable wearing a mask anywhere on our campus if they choose.

The Taming of the Shrew is supported by lead production sponsor Darlene Marcos Shiley; production sponsors Diane Berol in loving memory of John Berol, The Conrad Prebys Foundation, Karen and Donald Cohn, Silvija and Brian Devine, Jean and Gary Shekhter, and the Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Fund; and artist sponsor The Lodge at Torrey Pines (for director Shana Cooper). This production is supported in part by the Jean and Gary Shekhter Fund for Classic Theatre.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is supported by lead sponsor Darlene Marcos Shiley; production sponsors Ann Davies, Globe Guilders, Gillian and Tony Thornley, and Vicki and Carl Zeiger; and artist sponsors Sue and Edward “Duff” Sanderson (for director Patricia McGregor). This production is supported in part by the Jean and Gary Shekhter Fund for Classic Theatre.

Henry 6 is made possible by a generous grant from The Roy Cockrum Foundation. The Old Globe’s arts engagement programs are supported by Price Philanthropies, Qualcomm, US Bank, and Viasat, with additional support by La Jolla Kiwanis Foundation. Globe Teaching Artists are supported by the Ann Davies Fund for Teaching Artists.

Financial support for The Old Globe is provided by The City of San Diego. The Theodor and Audrey Geisel Fund provides leadership support for The Old Globe’s year-round activities.

The Tony Award–winning The Old Globe is one of the country’s leading professional not-for-profit regional theatres. Now in its 87th year, the Globe is San Diego’s flagship performing arts institution, and it serves a vibrant community with theatre as a public good. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and Audrey S. Geisel Managing Director Timothy J. Shields, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 16 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages, including its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people annually attend Globe productions and participate in the theatre’s artistic and arts engagement programs. Its nationally prominent Arts Engagement Department provides an array of participatory programs that make theatre matter to more people in neighborhoods throughout the region. Humanities programs at the Globe and around the city broaden the community’s understanding of theatre art in all its forms. The Globe also boasts a range of new play development programs with professional and community-based writers, as well as the renowned The Old Globe and University of San Diego

Shiley Graduate Theatre Program. Numerous world premieres—such as 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Bright Star, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!—have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.