- Shows and Tickets
- Plan Your Visit
- Other Programming
- Support Us
- Arts Engagement
- Get Involved
- MFA Program
- About The Globe
- News and Media
May 13 – June 19, 2016
(Opening Night: Friday, May 20)
A WEST COAST PREMIERE
Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage
Old Globe Theatre
Conrad Prebys Theatre Center
By Lawrence Wright
Directed by Molly Smith
The Old Globe presents the Arena Stage production of Camp David
Scenic Design by Walt Spangler
Costume Design by Paul Tazewell
Lighting Design by Pat Collins
Original Music and Sound Design by David Van Tieghem
Projection Design by Jeff Sugg
Casting by Geoff Josselson, CSA
Production Stage Manager, Susan R. White
Stage Manager – May 22 to June 19, Peter Van Dyke
Producer, Gerald Rafshoon
From The Twenty-seventh Man to Golda’s Balcony to Allegiance, The Old Globe boasts a rich legacy of exploring significant moments in history on its stages. Now a new play, Camp David, offers a you-are-there view of a great historical achievement whose legacy continues to resonate nearly 40 years later. In the tumultuous 1970s, Middle East peace seemed as remote a prospect as it does today. Yet during 13 extraordinary days in 1978, two world leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, under the watchful and sometimes exasperated eyes of President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalyn, hammered out an agreement that inspired the entire world. Pulitzer Prize winner Lawrence Wright (The Looming Tower, HBO’s Going Clear) brings us a riveting and moving story filled with humor, insight, and surprises as three very different men, each devoutly committed to his faith, find that peace is possible and that hope is always the better choice.
Khaled Nabawy as Anwar Sadat in the West Coast premiere of Lawrence Wright’s Camp David, directed by Molly Smith, May 13 – June 19, 2016 at The Old Globe. Photo by Jim Cox.
Lawrence Wright (Playwright) is a longtime writer for The New Yorker and the author of nine books, including Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, which was recently adapted into an acclaimed HBO documentary. His most recent book, Thirteen Days in September, emerged from the play Camp David and was named by The New York Times as one of the 10 Best Books of 2014; listed as number 5 on Amazon.com’s Editors’ Picks for the Best Books of 2014; and made NPR’s list of 2014’s Great Reads, Entertainment Weekly’s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2014, and Publishers Weekly 10 Best Books of 2014. His book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 won the Pulitzer Prize and was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 best nonfiction books ever written. He was the co-writer of the screenplay for the 1998 movie The Siege starring Denzel Washington and Annette Bening, and he also wrote Noriega: God’s Favorite starring Bob Hoskins for television. He has written and performed two one-man shows: My Trip to Al-Qaeda, which he performed Off Broadway and at The Kennedy Center in 2007, and which was made into a movie for HBO; and The Human Scale, which Wright performed in New York and Tel Aviv. His play Camp David received its world premiere at Arena Stage in Washington, DC, in 2014, and in the year prior Fallaci was staged by Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Wright lives in Austin, Texas, where he plays the keyboards in a blues band, WhoDo.
Molly Smith (Director) has served as Artistic Director of Arena Stage since 1998. Her directing credits there include Oliver!, The Originalist, Fiddler on the Roof, Camp David, Mother Courage and Her Children, Oklahoma!, A Moon for the Misbegotten, My Fair Lady, The Great White Hope, The Music Man, Orpheus Descending, Legacy of Light, The Women of Brewster Place, Cabaret, An American Daughter, South Pacific, Agamemnon and His Daughters, Coyote Builds North America, All My Sons,and How I Learned to Drive. Her directorial work has also been seen at the Shaw Festival in Canada, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company, Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, Centaur Theatre in Montreal, and Perseverance Theater in Juneau, Alaska, which she founded and ran from 1979 to 1998. Smith has been a leader in new play development for over 30 years. She is a great believer in first, second, and third productions of new works and has championed projects like How I Learned to Drive; Passion Play, a cycle;and Next to Normal. She has worked alongside playwrights Sarah Ruhl, Paula Vogel, Wendy Wasserstein, Lawrence Wright, Karen Zacarías, John Murrell, Eric Coble, Charles Randolph-Wright, and many others. She led the reinvention of Arena Stage, focusing on the architecture and creation of the Mead Center for American Theater and positioning Arena Stage as a national center for American artists. During her time with the company, Arena Stage has workshopped more than 100 productions, produced 36 world premieres, staged numerous second and third productions, and been an important part of nurturing seven projects that went on to have a life on Broadway. In 2014, Smith made her Broadway debut directing The Velocity of Autumn following its critically acclaimed run at Arena Stage. She was awarded honorary doctorates from American University and Towson University.
Walt Spangler (Scenic Design) makes his Globe debut with Camp David. He has designed over 200 productions in New York, across the nation, and around the world. His Broadway credits include Tuck Everlasting, Desire Under the Elms, Hollywood Arms, Scandalous, and A Christmas Story, The Musical. Mr. Spangler received his M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama. waltspangler.com.
Paul Tazewell (Costume Design) previously designed the Globe productions of The First Wives Club — A New Musical and Thunder Knocking at the Door. His Broadway credits include Hamilton, Side Show, Memphis (Tony Award nomination), A Streetcar Named Desire (Tony Award nomination), Jesus Christ Superstar, In the Heights (Tony Award nomination), Guys and Dolls, The Color Purple (Tony Award nomination), Elaine Stritch at Liberty, Caroline or Change, and Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk (Tony Award nomination). He designed the costumes for NBC’s The Wiz Live! He has also designed numerous productions for La Jolla Playhouse including Side Show, His Girl Friday, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Memphis, and Jesus Christ Superstar. For Arena Stage, he has designed Camelot (Helen Hayes Award), Guys and Dolls, The Women of Brewster Place, The Women, The African Company Presents Richard III (Helen Hayes Award), and many others. His other Washington, DC, credits include the costumes for Side Show and Carnival for The Kennedy Center, Showboat and Porgy and Bess at Washington National Opera, and Peer Gynt (Helen Hayes Award) for Shakespeare Theatre Company. Mr. Tazewell’s opera credits include Charles Gounod’s Faust for The Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera, Magdelena for Théâtre du Châtelet, Margaret Garner for Michigan Opera Theatre, and Little Women for New York City Opera.
Pat Collins (Lighting Design) has designed the Globe productions of Twelfth Night, Cymbeline, and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Her Broadway credits include Orphans, Good People, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Doubt (Tony Award nomination), Sight Unseen, Proof, A Moon for the Misbegotten, A Delicate Balance, The Sisters Rosensweig, Conversations with My Father, The Heidi Chronicles, I’m Not Rappaport (Tony Award), Execution of Justice (Drama Desk Award), the original and 1988 revival of Ain’t Misbehavin’, Once Upon a Mattress, An American Daughter, and many more. Her Lincoln Center Theater credits include Third, Ten Unknowns, Death and the King’s Horseman, The Threepenny Opera (Tony nomination), The Floating Lightbulb, and Measure for Measure. Her Off Broadway credits include The Foreigner, Doubt, Burn This, Quartermaine’s Terms, How I Got That Story, and A Life in the Theatre. Ms. Collins has designed lighting at theatres throughout the country, including Arena Stage, Mark Taper Forum, McCarter Theatre Center, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Hartford Stage, Alley Theatre, Center Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Goodman Theatre, American Repertory Theater, and Actor’s Theatre of Louisville. She has also designed for Wagner’s Ring Cycle at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and over 100 productions for opera companies throughout the world.
David Van Tieghem (Original Music and Sound Design) has worked on the Broadway productions of Doubt, The Gin Game, The Lyons, Romeo and Juliet, The Big Knife, Born Yesterday, Arcadia, The Normal Heart, An Enemy of the People, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, A Behanding in Spokane, A Man for All Seasons, Inherit the Wind, Frozen, After Miss Julie, Judgment at Nuremberg, The Crucible, Three Days of Rain, and The Best Man. His Off Broadway credits include Wit, The Piano Lesson, Through a Glass Darkly, How I Learned to Drive, The Grey Zone, and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Mr. Van Tieghem’s film and television credits include Buried Prayers and Working Girls, as well as work with Penn & Teller and The Wooster Group. His credits for dance include Twyla Tharp, Pilobolus, Doug Varone, Elizabeth Streb, Elisa Monte, and Michael Moschen. Mr. Van Tieghem was a percussionist with Laurie Anderson, Talking Heads, Brian Eno, and Steve Reich. His honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship and Drama Desk, Obie, Bessie, Eddy, and Lucille Lortel Awards and nominations. His CDs include Thrown for a Loop, Strange Cargo, Safety in Numbers, and These Things Happen. vantieghem.com.
Jeff Sugg (Projection Design) is a Brooklyn-based designer and multi-award winner. His Broadway credits include Lincoln Center Theater’s Macbeth, A Time to Kill, Bring It On: The Musical, Magic/Bird, and 33 Variations. His Off Broadway credits include The Fortress of Solitude, An Octoroon, This Clement World, Tribes, The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island, and The Accidental Trilogy. He designed regional productions of Domesticated and Marie Antoinette (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Sweat (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage), Camp David (Arena Stage), and Five Guys Named Moe (Arena Stage, Cleveland Play House). Mr. Sugg’s credits in music include Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning composition Anthracite Fields and Prince’s appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He has received the Lucille Lortel Award and Obie Award (The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island), Bessie Award (Must Don’t Whip ’Um), and two Henry Hewes Design Awards (Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island, 33 Variations).
Geoff Josselson, CSA (Casting) is a New York-based casting director whose work includes productions for Broadway, Off Broadway, and major New York and regional theatre companies, including Arena Stage, Barrington Stage Company, Bay Street Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Cleveland Play House, Denver Center Theatre Company, The Marriott Theatre, North Shore Music Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Paramount Theatre, San Francisco Symphony, Sharon Playhouse, and York Theatre Company. He is responsible for casting the Broadway production of The Velocity of Autumn starring Estelle Parsons (2014 Tony Award nominee for Best Actress in a Play) and many other acclaimed New York productions, including Southern Comfort (The Public Theater), Yank! and Enter Laughing (York Theatre Company), Pretty Filthy (The Civilians), John and Jen (Keen Company), Himself and Nora (Minetta Lane Theatre), Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man (Off Broadway), Altar Boyz (Off Broadway and tour), Septimus and Clarissa (Ripe Time), and national tours for Disney and Nickelodeon. He teaches master classes around the country and is on faculty at CAP21 Musical Theatre Conservatory. geoffjosselson.com.
Susan R. White (Production Stage Manager) is thrilled to be a part of The Old Globe’s season and to be working, once again, with director Molly Smith. Ms. White is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Peter Van Dyke (Stage Manager – May 22 to June 19) has been a stage manager for over 50 productions at The Old Globe, beginning with Foxfire in the former Cassius Carter Centre Stage in 1984 and most recently Double Indemnity in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre. Some of his other notable shows include Waiting for Godot, Falsettos, Forever Plaid, Blues in the Night, Pride’s Crossing, Cowgirls, and nine Shakespeare plays, including Jack O’Brien’s monumental Henry IV. Born in Chicago and raised on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, Mr. Van Dyke has been a San Diegan since 1989. He has stage managed at Denver Center Theatre Company, Arizona Theatre Company, Pasadena Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and Mark Taper Forum. He has been the production stage manager of The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Wicked, Million Dollar Quartet, and Kinky Boots on tour, playing over 100 cities in 36 states and five provinces of Canada, as well as Seoul and Shanghai.
Chandra R.M. Anthenill (Assistant Stage Manager) recently worked on the Globe production of The Comedy of Errors. Her credits as production stage manager include R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE, Outside Mullingar, The Oldest Boy, Everybody’s Talkin’: The Music of Harry Nilsson, Oedipus El Rey, Honky, and A Weekend with Pablo Picasso (San Diego Repertory Theatre), Sons of the Prophet, True West, Fool for Love, Spring Awakening, A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play, Assassins, and Company (Cygnet Theatre Company), Twelfth Night (Lamb’s Players Theatre), and Pippin (Diversionary Theatre). Her credits as assistant stage manager include In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, The Who’s Tommy, Walter Cronkite is Dead, Tortilla Curtain, Zoot Suit, and A Hammer, A Bell, and A Song to Sing (San Diego Repertory Theatre) and Dirty Blonde (Cygnet Theatre Company). Mrs. Anthenill is a proud member of Actors’ Equity.
Gerald Rafshoon (Producer) went from the White House into producing motion pictures and television films. He has won two Emmy Awards (Outstanding Miniseries for Joseph and Best News Documentary for Decisions That Shook the World). Mr. Rafshoon also produced a 40-hour international television series of biblical epics, including the Emmy nominated Moses starring Ben Kingsley. Other films he has produced include The Nightmare Years starring Sam Waterston and Running Mates with Laura Linney, Tom Selleck, and Faye Dunaway. Mr. Rafshoon conceived the idea of a Camp David play based on his experience at the actual conference, serving as Assistant to President Carter and White House Communications Director.
Arena Stage (Co-Presenter) at the Mead Center for American Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Producer Edgar Dobie, is a national center located in Washington, DC, dedicated to American voices. Arena Stage celebrates all that is passionate, profound, deep, and dangerous in the American spirit, and presents diverse and groundbreaking work from some of America’s best artists. Arena Stage is committed to commissioning and developing new plays through the American Voices New Play Institute. arenastage.org.
