The Old Globe Announces Cohort for the 2024 CLASSICAL DIRECTING FELLOWSHIP

The Old Globe announced the four-member cohort for the 2024 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, podcast host, and director.

 This year’s fellows, who are active directors in the San Diego theatre community and who have worked with The Old Globe in various artistic capacities, include Andréa Agosto (associate director of Henry V for The Old Globe’s Globe for All Tour, Buckets at Diversionary Theatre, Game of Tiaras at Falcon Players), Kandace Crystal (Welcome to Sleepy Hollow at Oceanside Theatre Company, Gracie for President at San Diego Junior Theatre, upcoming The Color Purple at New Village Arts), Kian Kline-Chilton (Blue Orange at Fenix Theatre Collaborative, assistant director of The Taming of the Shrew at The Old Globe, assistant director of Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play at The Old Globe), and Desireé Clarke Miller (Celebrating Community Voices at The Old Globe’s Power New Voices Festival, Man and Moon at MOXIE Theatre, Monsters of The American Cinema at Diversionary Theatre). The fifth year of this series of workshops on Shakespearean directing will be held at the Globe from Monday, March 25 to Friday, March 29, 2024. In addition to the workshops, the 2024 Classical Directing Fellows will be invited to observe rehearsals of the upcoming summer production of Henry 6, adapted and directed by Edelstein.

The Classical Directing 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, Edelsteinpresents a series of techniques that the fellows then employ in rehearsals with a company of professional actors. The work culminates in a private presentation. After that, all involved 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 meet with members of the Globe’s staff in many departments to deepen knowledge of how a classically oriented theatre brings plays to life.

“Our wonderful Classical Directing Fellowship, which has been so important to the Globe’s work on Shakespeare for four years, is especially exciting in 2024,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “This summer The Old Globe will complete the Shakespeare canon as we produce Henry 6, a two-play adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Parts I, II, and III. This epic production will have a strong community component, with San Diegans participating in the design and performance of the show. The community-facing aspect of the work extends to this year’s cohort of artists in our Classical Directing Fellowship. These four amazing talents are based in San Diego, and our investment in them and their skillsets will return to the benefit of the San Diego theatre community in the years ahead. The 16 gifted directors who’ve come through the program since its inception are directing Shakespeare at the Globe and on stages all over the country, and I know that this year’s amazing group of talents will do the same. The Globe and I are proud to deepen our commitment to the next generation of American theatrical talent, and grateful to Karen and Stuart Tanz for their support.”

Past participants of The Old Globe’s Classical Directing Fellowship include directors Patrice Amon, Jennifer Chang, Meg DeBoard, Kareem Fahmy, Manoel Felciano, Yolanda Marie Franklin, Lavina Jadhwani, Daniel Jáquez, Victor Lirio, Rondrell McCormick, Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, Tai Thompson, Awoye Timpo, Edward Torres, Sam White, and La Williams.

The Classical Directing Fellowship is supported by a program of the Karen and Stuart Tanz Fellowships at The Old Globe. 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.

The Tony Award–winning The Old Globe is one of the country’s leading professional nonprofit regional theatres. Now in its 89th 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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