The Old Globe
Receives California Humanities Grant

The Old Globe to Receive a $25,000
Humanities for All Grant;
Activities Will Support Free Humanities Events and Workshops

SAN DIEGO (January 30, 2023) — The Old Globe is pleased to announce that it has been selected as one of 10 organizations statewide to receive a Humanities for All Project Grant Award from California Humanities. A grant of $25,000 will support The Old Globe’s Shakespeare for All project, a citywide series of free humanities events supporting the Globe’s summer 2024 Henry 6 project.

The Humanities for All Project Grant is a competitive program that supports locally developed projects that respond to the needs, interests, and concerns of Californians; provides accessible learning experiences for the public; and promotes understanding among our state’s diverse population.

For this project, The Old Globe, one of the country’s leading Shakespeare theatres, will host a citywide series of free humanities events to accompany the production of a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry VI in the summer of 2024. Titled Henry 6 to underscore its contemporary resonance, the play is a timely and timeless portrayal of political disarray that illuminates how debates over political legitimacy, civil unrest, and the machinations of the elite impact the lives of everyday people. To explore the relevance of this classic in our time, The Old Globe will host scholar and artist discussion panels, exhibitions, a film series, and community education workshops until September 15, 2024. San Diegans will learn about the development of Henry 6 and understand the process of interpreting the original text from the perspective of scholars, artists, dramaturgs, stage designers, costumers, directors, and their fellow community members in San Diego and around the world. With partners to include the San Diego Public Library, San Diego State University, University of California, San Diego, and the University of San Diego, Shakespeare for All will bring Shakespeare to all regions of San Diego and reach an estimated 65,000 people.

“The Old Globe’s Henry 6 project promises to be memorable in many ways,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “A major professional production of three seldom-produced Shakespearean history plays, it’s also going to be a gathering place for the many communities served by The Old Globe. Our Shakespeare for All project will be central to that effort, and will welcome San Diegans to this project even as it illuminates the many ways these plays continue to be relevant, meaningful, and contemporary, centuries after they were written. The Globe is grateful to the many organizations that are partnering with us, and we are particularly grateful to California Humanities for its crucial support.”

“These projects will bring the complexity and diversity of California to light in new ways that will engage Californians from every part of our state, and will help us all understand each other better,” said Julie Fry, President & CEO of California Humanities. “We congratulate these grantees, whose projects will promote understanding and provide insight into a wide range of topics, issues, and experiences.”

In addition to this generous grant from California Humanities, The Old Globe’s Henry 6 project is supported by a major grant from The Roy Cockrum Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Financial support 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.

California Humanities promotes the humanities—focused on ideas, conversation, and learning—as relevant, meaningful ways to understand the human condition and connect us to each other in order to help strengthen California. California Humanities has provided grants and programs across the state since 1975. To learn more visit www.calhum.org, or follow California Humanities on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About The Old Globe
The Tony Award–winning The Old Globe is one of the country’s leading professional not-for-profit regional theatres. Now in its 88th 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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