Classical Directing Fellowship 2021

The Old Globe Announces Cohort for the
2021 CLASSICAL DIRECTING FELLOWSHIP

Noted Shakespearean and Globe leader Barry Edelstein
to hold second annual Shakespeare directing workshop
with professional directors Meg DeBoard, Yolanda Marie Franklin,
Awoye Timpo, and Edward Torres

This year’s directing workshop will be held virtually
Monday, March 8 – Friday, March 12, 2021

PHOTO EDITORS: Headshots of the participating directors are available by clicking here.

SAN DIEGO (March 4, 2021)—The Old Globe is pleased to announce the four-member cohort for the 2021 Classical Directing Fellowship, a program of the Karen and Stuart Tanz Fellowships at The Old Globe, led by the Globe’s Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, a leading Shakespearean teacher, author, and director. Meg DeBoard (assistant directed at the Globe; M.F.A. from University of Essex; Spring Awakening and Failure: A Love Story in San Diego), Yolanda Marie Franklin (Executive Artistic Director of Common Ground Theatre; Craig Noel Award winner for The Ballad of Emmett Till), Awoye Timpo (The Public Theater’s The Loophole, Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play), and Edward Torres (the Globe’s Familiar, Native Gardens, Water by the Spoonful; world premiere of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity) will participate in the second edition of Shakespeare directing workshops. This year’s workshop will be held virtually from Monday, March 8 to Friday, March 12, 2021. Bios for Edelstein and the four participating directors can be found at www.TheOldGlobe.org/Press-Room.

As one of the leading Shakespeare theatres in America, the Globe presents four full productions of the Bard’s plays annually, and Shakespeare is central to the theatre’s nationally renowned arts engagement programs. All of this work is in pursuit of the Globe’s values-driven commitment to making theatre matter to more people, a commitment that expresses the Globe’s view of theatre art as a public good. This commitment requires the Globe to think about the future of the American theatre and to train artists whose work will embody the values we champion. We can help make a contribution not only to our own work but also to the field at large by expanding the ranks of exciting Shakespeareans ready to help form the future of classical theatre in America.

The fellowship focuses on Shakespeare’s text, how it is put together, and how it works in the imaginations and voices of American actors. In these seminars, Edelstein will present a series of techniques that the fellows will then employ in online rehearsals with a company of professional actors. The work will culminate in a private online presentation on Friday. After that, all involved will debrief and broaden the conversation to larger questions about Shakespeare, American culture, and the director’s art and life. Throughout the week, in addition to the artistic work, fellows will meet with members of the Globe’s staff in many departments to deepen knowledge of how a classically oriented theatre brings plays to life.

“COVID-19 forced us to postpone our Classical Directing Fellowship last year, and I am truly delighted that we’ve found a way to gather these four talented directors virtually and resume this exciting work,” said Barry Edelstein. “The Globe’s work on Shakespeare is central, as is our commitment to artist training, and this intensive week’s deep dive into Shakespeare’s text and how it works combines both. Meg, Yolanda, Awoye, and Eddie are deeply gifted, and I know our week together will be full of discovery, growth, and great art.”

This Classical Directing Fellowship continues to broaden our professional artist-training work, which initially centered on The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, which focuses on actors. The 2019 fellowship pilot program cohort included four diverse directors from San Diego and across the U.S.: Daniel Jáquez, Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, Sam White, and LA Williams.

Thanks to the generosity of Karen and Stuart Tanz, who have made a significant 10-year pledge to the annual fund of The Old Globe, the program is part of the Karen and Stuart Tanz Fellowships at The Old Globe.

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.

Note: All in-person Globe productions and events have been postponed until further notice; all dates are subject to change. In the meantime, the Globe recently announced a new 2021 lineup of programming, including free online work to continue reaching the San Diego community, and in-person shows when we are able to return to our theatres in Balboa Park.

Hamlet: On the Radio will air in partnership with KPBS beginning April 23. The Globe’s Barry Edelstein directs this audio revival of the Globe’s 2017’s smash-hit production of Shakespeare’s exhilarating tragedy. Associated free programs include Thinking Shakespeare Live: Infinite Book, the latest installment of Edelstein’s popular series; the online exhibit Shakespeare in San Diego: The Virtual Experience; our sixth annual Happy Birthday, Mr. Shakespeare! AXIS event; Vicki and Carl Zeiger Virtual Insights Seminars; and the return of On Book: The Old Globe’s Shakespeare Reading Group.

Current online arts engagement programs include AETV Theatre Shorts mini-lessons; Community Voices: Comedy Edition writing workshops; new middle school and high school Globe to Go focused resources, a part of School in the Park, which offers free downloadable K–5 resources for teaching; season 3 of Reflecting Shakespeare TV, a digital version of the transformative initiative offered at prisons; the exploration of modern poetry The Poet’s Tree; Creative Youth Studio, a series of professional development opportunities for youth and high-school theatre enthusiasts; collaborative Mad Libs–style program Word Up!; the AXIS events Happy Birthday, Mr. Shakespeare! and Día de Muertos/Day of the Dead; and another year of the Pam Farr Summer Shakespeare Studio and Theatre Design Studio for high school students and recent graduates.

The Globe recently wrapped its 2021 Powers New Voices Festival and a virtual production of A Midsummer Night’s Dreamwith The Old Globe and University of San Diego Graduate Theatre Program.

When the Globe’s three stages open once again, there will be an exciting season of new works, classic plays, and thrilling musicals. The Summer Shakespeare Festival in the Globe’s famed outdoor Festival Theatre will feature William Shakespeare’s masterful comedic take on the battle of the sexes, The Taming of the Shrew, and the American tribal love-rock musical Hair; with book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado and music by Galt MacDermot, directed by James Vásquez and choreographed by Rickey Tripp. In the Globe’s two indoor theatres there will be Alice Childress’s American classic Trouble in Minddirected by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg; the Globe-commissioned world premiere musical The Gardens of Anuncia, inspired by the life story of Broadway legend Graciela Daniele, who directs and choreographs, with book, music, and lyrics by five-time Tony Award nominee Michael John LaChiusa; the world premiere of Mansa Ra’s Globe-commissioned play Shutter Sisters, directed by Donya K. Washington; and the world premiere play El Borrachoby Tony Meneses, directed by Edward Torres.

Programs and videos archived on our website at www.TheOldGlobe.org and on our YouTube channel, available for viewing at any time from the comfort of your home, including the world premiere of Bill Irwin’s In-Zoom; The Old Globe Coloring Book; a free commissioned short-plays project Play At Home; outreach from familiar Globe artists in Act Breaks and Flashbacks; Soap It Up with students from The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program; and Barry Edelstein’s hit presentation Thinking Shakespeare Live! and his series Thinking Shakespeare Live: Sonnets! Archived arts engagement programs include the Community Voices playwriting workshop and its Spanish-language version Voces de la Comunidad; Behind the Curtain and its offshoots, the Spanish-language Detrás del Telón, Behind the Curtain: Technical Assistance forum, and Behind the Curtain: Art of Protest; check-in program with Globe-commissioned writers Playwrights Unstuck; and The Living Room Play Workshop.

The Tony Award–winning The Old Globe is one of the country’s leading professional not-for-profit regional theatres. Now in its 85th 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 the 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.

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