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SAN DIEGO (September 1, 2020)—The Old Globe announced today our upcoming roster of free digital arts-engagement programs created specifically for online audiences. After pivoting to digital platforms due to COVID-19, The Old Globe continues to offer excellent workshops, classes, and events on our social media platforms, as well as on The Old Globe’s website. This fall season includes new programs and returning favorites—there is something for everyone!
“Since the pandemic began, we’ve not stopped asking ourselves the question: how can we continue to make theatre matter to more people when so much of our programming revolves around congregating community members at live performances?” reflected Associate Director of Arts Engagement Katherine Harroff. “It’s been an incredible journey making the transfer into online programming, but throughout the development of our digital platforms, we’ve come to understand one vital truth: these offerings are making a difference in the lives of our participants, and we must continue. The impact that our live digital performances and workshops can have on a community has proven to be a salve in a troubling time for many. We intend to continue improving our offerings, to be even more engaging in style and general programming, in order to provide ongoing creative outlets for anyone who needs them as long as we are able. We know now after five months of taking this plunge that many people need this. We are honored to provide a robust season of programming online until it is safe again to meet in person.”
Kicking off the incredible fall season of The Old Globe’s free digital arts-engagement offerings is The Poet’s Tree, hosted by Old Globe Teaching Artist and spoken word poet Gill Sotu. This new program takes a deep dive into the world of modern poetry and how artists tell compelling stories using only the power of the spoken word. Each week Sotu will interview a poet and discuss their poetry style, how it is effective, tools that will help the audience grow in their own work, and inspirations. Get swept away by the power of words and learn how to write your own poetry with weekly prompts every Tuesday, live from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. PDT, September 8, 2020 through November 10, 2020.
Calling for submissions! The Living Room Play Workshop—our how-to write, produce, design, develop, and present living room-inspired short plays workshop—has been extended to September 24 and will culminate in two exciting final presentations. The presented living room–inspired short plays will be submitted by the workshops’ participants and performed by your favorite local actors. Submit your short play by September 10, 2020 to kharroff@TheOldGlobe.org, and join us live for the final presentations on Thursday, October 8 and Friday, October 9, 2020 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. PDT.
Crowd-favorite playwriting workshop Community Voices will premiere a Spanish version: Voces de la Comunidad! Learn how to become a playwright, or dramaturgx, with hosts and Teaching Artists Gerardo Flores Tonella and Valeria Vega, every Monday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. PDT, September 14, 2020 through November 16, 2020.
In addition, host Katherine Harroff will lead participants on a path of exploring comedic performance-based writing with our brand-new Community Voices: Comedy Writing! Work on your comedic chops every Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30p.m. PDT, October 22, 2020 through December 17, 2020.
Community Voices will also be available through private classes, including a collaboration with SoulKiss Theatre for Black queer-identifying womxn taught by Teaching Artist and Globe-commissioned playwright Miki Vale, plus the second part of our sensory-friendly workshop for neurodiverse people offered by Teaching Artists Gill Sotu and, once again, Samantha Ginn. For more information on future similar programs, please contact Associate Director of Arts Engagement Katherine Harroff at kharroff@TheOldGlobe.org.
Globe to Go, which offers free downloadable theatre resources for teachers and parents for students grades K–5, will now offer material for middle and high school students! For high school students, the materials will be available on October 1, focusing on scenery, costumes, and props; programs designed for middle school students (grades 6–8) will become available on November 1. Visit our website for creative lesson plans and short videos to have fun and learn at home together!
The Globe to Go offerings are based on the long-running School in the Park (SITP) program, which will return virtually this fall semester on September 21, 2020, in alignment with the San Diego Unified School District school calendar for a two-week session. Teaching Artist Randall Eames will provide virtual theatre activities and lessons to K–8 students in Title I schools in San Diego. This program, in collaboration with other institutions in Balboa Park, offers meaningful classroom experiences centered on authentic learning and meeting the needs of all learners.
Reflecting Shakespeare TV, our transformative program originally created for people experiencing incarceration, invites you to keep journaling along to its second season! Discover William Shakespeare’s text and characters as a launch point for self-reflection to create community and reduce isolation. Join hosts Old Globe Programs Manager Erika Phillips, Master Teaching Artist James Pillar, and Teaching Artist Niki Martinez, every Monday at 6:30 p.m. PDT, starting October 5, 2020, for 10 exciting episodes.
Additionally, our Reflecting Shakespeare program, made available only to populations experiencing incarceration, has expanded online to new partners San Diego County Office of Education Juvenile Court and Community Schools to serve justice-involved youth, made possible by the awarded California Arts Council’s JUMP Starts grant. In addition, with new partner San Diego County Probation Department, The Old Globe is able to create a Reflecting Shakespeare program for adults recently returning from incarceration, made possible through the California Arts Council’s Reentry Through the Arts grant. Both new ventures start in October. The program continues to serve incarcerated populations with established partners California State Prison, Centinela and Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility through alternative-distance learning offerings. For more information, please contact Programs Manager Erika Phillips at ephillips@TheOldGlobe.org.
Back by popular demand, Behind the Curtain will premiere a new iteration, Behind the Curtain: Art of Protest, with host and Teaching Artist Kendrick Dial. He will meet with protest artists to discuss their approach to the creation of innovative and progressive protest art, both installation and performative. Learn more about the intersection between art and social justice every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. PDT, October 7, 2020 through November 11, 2020.
Our traditional Day of the Dead/Día de Muertos AXIS event is back for a sixth consecutive year! Join us online on Sunday, November 7, 2020 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. PDT for some traditional Mexican music, recorded bilingual short plays from past coLAB productions, activities to enjoy at home with the whole family, and more sorpresas! Join our host, Teaching Artist Valeria Vega, for this interactive online celebration of this incredible Mexican tradition.
We are also delighted to share that several of our most popular online programs from this summer are coming back to inform and entertain this fall:
Word Up!, our hit collaborative Mad Libs–style program, continues to highlight a different art form and artist every Friday night at 6:00 p.m. PDT. Collaborate in real time with these artists to create something new and fun!
Creative Youth Studio is a series of professional development opportunities for youth and high-school theatre enthusiasts to advance their creative and professional careers. Participants will explore audition preparation, portfolio building, writing for theatre, entrepreneurial tips, and improvisation skills in free weekly one-hour classes taught by industry experts every Saturday at 11:00 a.m. PDT through November 22, 2020, also available on our Instagram @tog_ae.
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 develops and presents a wide array of free online programs to continue reaching the San Diego community. These currently include a free commissioned short-plays project Play At Home and The Old Globe Coloring Book.
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; On Book: The Old Globe’s Shakespeare Reading Group; 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; Behind the Curtain and its offshoots, the Spanish-language Detrás del Telón and Behind the Curtain: Technical Assistance forum; Globe to Go K–5–focused resources, a part of School in the Park that offers free downloadable resources for teaching; check-in program with Globe-commissioned playwrights Playwrights Unstuck; and season 1 of Reflecting Shakespeare TV, a digital version of the transformative initiative previously offered at prisons.
Follow us on www.TheOldGlobe.org for schedules and updates!
An updated guide to our free online theatre programs,
as well as videos of those programs, are available here.
You can also watch our videos on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/TheOldGlobe.
Please contact Public Relations Associate Lucía Serrano
for high-res visuals for media usage and Arts Engagement Department biographies and headshots, or visit https://bit.ly/3eXTZyE.
