The Old Globe to Reprise THINKING SHAKESPEARE LIVE! This May

For many San Diegans, their ability to understand and appreciate the wonders of the Bard during our Summer Shakespeare Festival has increased exponentially since they joined us for Thinking Shakespeare Live!, a 90-minute exploration of the language of Shakespeare led by the Globe's Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and assisted by three professional classical actors. Following successful showings in the past several seasons and a special Folio Edition last summer, The Old Globe will offer a reprise on Saturday, May 20 at 11:00 a.m.

This special program, based on Edelstein's book Thinking Shakespeare: A How-To Guide for Student Actors, Directors, and Anyone Else Who Wants to Feel More Comfortable with the Bard, reveals a performer's approach to Shakespearean language so audiences may easily understand the poetry of the Bard. An ideal introduction to Shakespeare for families and young audiences as well as an exciting new look at the playwright for Bardophiles, Thinking Shakespeare Live! will take place on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.

Tickets are currently available for subscribers and donors and go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 28 at 12:00 noon. Tickets are $15.00 for the general public and $10.00 for subscribers, donors, students, and groups. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

"San Diego's Shakespeare audience is devoted to the Bard, and the Globe, one of the country's great Shakespeare theatres, always looks for innovative ways to serve it," said Edelstein. "We created Thinking Shakespeare Live! to help our audience have fun while making new connections to Shakespeare, and we are pleased to bring it back this summer and make it a regular part of our program."

Coinciding with The Old Globe's 2017 Shakespeare Festival, Thinking Shakespeare Live! is a fast-paced, funny, and altogether fascinating guide to the language of the Bard. In this lively 90-minute program, Barry Edelstein, called by NPR "one of the country's leading Shakespeareans," provides audiences a unique opportunity to learn the methods he imparts to professional actors in the rehearsal room. As Edelstein and three skilled actors demonstrate these techniques live on stage, this entertaining behind-the-scenes look at the creative process offers a primer on the tools used to hear and understand Shakespeare. With humor and insight, Thinking Shakespeare Live! brings audiences into the intoxicating world of the Bard and shows how his masterful poetry can come to life for everyone.

The three professional actors who will take part in the presentation will be announced shortly.

Barry Edelstein (Director, Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director) is a stage director, producer, author, and educator. Recognized as one of the leading American authorities on the works of Shakespeare, he has directed nearly half of the Bard's plays. His Globe directing credits include The Winter's Tale; Othello; The Twenty-seventh Man; the world premiere of Rain; and Picasso at the Lapin Agile. He also directed All's Well That Ends Well as the inaugural production of the Globe for All community tour. As Director of the Shakespeare Initiative at The Public Theater (2008-2012), Mr. Edelstein oversaw all of the company's Shakespearean productions as well as its educational, community outreach, and artist-training programs. At The Public, he staged the world premiere of The Twenty-seventh Man, Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, Timon of Athens, and Steve Martin's WASP and Other Plays. He was also Associate Producer of The Public's Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino. From 1998 to 2003 he was Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company. Mr. Edelstein's other Shakespearean directorial credits include The Winter's Tale at Classic Stage Company; As You Like It starring Gwyneth Paltrow; and Richard III starring John Turturro. His additional credits include the Lucille Lortel Award-winning revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons; the world premiere of Steve Martin's The Underpants, which he commissioned; and Molière's The Misanthrope starring Uma Thurman in her stage debut. Mr. Edelstein has taught Shakespearean acting at The Juilliard School, New York University's Graduate Acting Program, and the University of Southern California. His book Thinking Shakespeare is the standard text on American Shakespearean acting. He is also the author of Bardisms: Shakespeare for All Occasions. He is a graduate of Tufts University and the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.

The Globe's 2017 Summer Shakespeare Festival lineup will feature Globe and television favorite Robert Sean Leonard (the Globe's Pygmalion, "House") in the title role of one of the greatest of Shakespeare's towering cycle of history plays, King Richard II, directed by Erica Schmidt (Off Broadway's All the Fine Boys). Convinced of his divine right to rule, King Richard acts recklessly and provides the canny Henry Bolingbroke an opening to seize the crown. Filled with magnificent verse and Shakespeare's characteristic wisdom and insight, King Richard II is a deeply moving and insightful portrait of how the forces of history collide and combust to shape a nation's political landscape. King Richard II plays June 11 - July 15. Shakespeare's exhilarating tragedy Hamlet follows, with director Barry Edelstein returning to the outdoor festival stage to bring Shakespeare's classic to life under the stars. He will direct a cast featuring some of the nation's finest classical actors in one of the greatest plays ever written-revenge thriller, ghost story, psychological drama, political epic, and family saga, all packed with unforgettable characters, theatrical masterstrokes, and world famous lines. The Prince of Denmark comes home from college to find his father dead, his mother remarried to his uncle, and a spine-chilling apparition roaming the palace grounds. Hamlet plays August 6 - September 10.

The Globe will present four free Shakespeare-related film screenings: Julie Taymor's A Midsummer Night's Dream on June 26, Peter Brook's King Lear on July 17, Looking for Richard starring Al Pacino on August 7, and Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet on August 28.

The Summer Season also includes the classic musical fable of Broadway Guys and Dolls, based on a story and characters by Damon Runyon, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. Guys and Dolls will be directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes, returning to the Globe after the great successes of Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, which he directed, and Bright Star, which he choreographed. Roll the dice with an unforgettable group of gamblers and showgirls as Guys and Dolls runs July 2 - August 13, presented in association with Asolo Repertory Theatre.

And get ready to rollick with Ken Ludwig's Robin Hood!, which runs July 22 - August 27. Inventive comic genius Ken Ludwig, whose Baskerville brought Sherlock Holmes to the Globe, is back with a brand-new Globe-commissioned world premiere comedy about another icon: Robin Hood. Packed with thrills, romance, laughs, and great characters like Little John, Friar Tuck, and Maid Marian, Robin Hood! tells the timeless story of a hero of the people who takes on the powers that be. So get ready to duck a quarterstaff or two-you won't want to miss a moment of the swashbuckling fun!

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.

Pictured: Old Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein leads Thinking Shakespeare Live! (2013). Photo by Doug Gates.

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