The Old Globe Presents HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. SHAKESPEARE! Free Event

The Old Globe would like to invite friends, Romans, countrymen-all of San Diego, in fact-to join us in celebrating our resident playwright William Shakespeare's birthday with Happy Birthday, Mr. Shakespeare! on Saturday, April 22, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., on the Globe's campus in Balboa Park. The Bard's birthday-his 453rd!-is a fitting and festive reason to recognize his countless contributions to arts and culture around the world. This exciting day of family activities is free and open to the public as part of the Globe's ongoing commitment to programs that serve all of San Diego County. Don your best doublet and ruff-or come as you are. And did we mention cake?!

Birthday games and activities, emceed by local artist Nadia Guevara, will run the gamut of eras from Elizabethan to today. The celebration will feature live music from local artist DJ Redlite, backing up sonnet karaoke, led by the illustrious students in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program. Challengers welcome-bring your own sonnet or monologue-or choose one of ours! And the talented Arts Engagement team will be on hand to help out with the fun, as will members of the San Diego Shakespeare Society.

The doors to our indoor theatres will be wide open for you to explore, with a fabulous costume exhibit in the Globe lobby and informative docents on hand to answer questions. Shakespeare-themed activities on Copley Plaza will include a life-sized board game, and in the Craig Noel Garden, little ones can create their own Shakespearean puppets and perform in an interactive puppet theatre show with the San Diego Guild of Puppetry. Grab a photo of your friends in the stocks or as the original Queen Mum, Elizabeth I. It will be a festive day suitable for the whole family, plus cake served at 12:00 noon. Yum!

"'It is my birthday,' says Cleopatra in Act III of the great play Shakespeare wrote about her, and though the line may not be one of the Bard's most famous, it's still fitting for this particular day," said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "Shakespeare is the lifeblood of The Old Globe, and the Globe is central to San Diego, so we couldn't let his 453rd go by without a bang. We've planned a day of fun for the whole family: music, costumes, performances, games, and food. I know it's going to be a blast, and I look forward to welcoming the whole city to join us."

Happy Birthday, Mr. Shakespeare! is supported by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation.

LOCATION and PARKING INFORMATION: The Old Globe is located in San Diego's Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. There are numerous free parking lots available throughout the park. Guests may also be dropped off in front of the Mingei International Museum. For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org. For directions and up-to-date information, please visit www.theoldglobe.org/plan-your-visit/directions--parking/detailed-directions.

PLEASE NOTE: To look up online or GPS directions to The Old Globe, please do not use the Delivery Address above. There is only a 10-minute zone at that physical address. For GPS users, please click here for the map coordinates, and here for written directions to The Old Globe and nearby parking in Balboa Park.

2017 CALENDAR: Red Velvet (3/25-4/30), Skeleton Crew (4/8-5/7), The Old Man and The Old Moon (5/13-6/18), The Imaginary Invalid (5/27-6/25), King Richard II (6/11-7/15), Guys and Dolls (7/2-8/13), Ken Ludwig's Robin Hood! (7/22-8/27), Hamlet (8/6-9/10).

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country's leading professional regional theatres and has stood as San Diego's flagship arts institution for over 80 years. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, both part of The Old Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, and the 605-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theatre's artistic and arts engagement programs. Numerous world premieres such as the 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Bright Star, Allegiance, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and the annual holiday musical Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.

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