Interview: Theatre Life with Barry Edelstein

Today’s subject Barry Edelstein is currently living his theatre life as the Artistic Director of San Diego’s renowned Old Globe. On January 30th he will be giving a special presentation on putting together his adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays entitled Henry 6. at our very own Folger Theatre as part of their third annual Reding Room Series which runs from January 30th through February 2nd.

For Henry 6 Barry directed a cast of 30, with over 50 San Diego organizations and nearly 1,000 San Diegans participating directly in the milestone production for San Diego’s Old Globe, making them a true collaboration between the arts and the broader public. This model of community-driven theater will hopefully inspire future productions.

Barry’s directing credits at the Old Globe include The Winter’s Tale, Othello, The Twenty-Seventh Man, the world premiere of Rain, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Hamlet, the world premiere of The Wanderers, the American premiere of Life After, Romeo and Juliet, the world premiere of What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, the two-part epic Henry 6, and, during the pandemic, Hamlet: On the Radio. He also directed All’s Well That Ends Well as the inaugural production of the Globe for All community tour, and he oversees the Globe’s Classical Directing Fellowship program.

In addition to his recent Globe credits, he directed The Tempest with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2018 and The Wanderers Off-Broadway with Roundabout Theatre Company in 2023.

As Director of the Shakespeare Initiative at the Public Theater (2008–2012), 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.

His book Thinking Shakespeare is the standard text on American Shakespearean acting. He is also the author of Bardisms: Shakespeare for All Occasions. His podcast Where There’s a Will: Finding Shakespeare was produced by the Globe and Pushkin Industries.

As you can see, Barry Edelstein has an extensive amount of experience staging the classics and more. His Henry 6 project was quite the undertaking. Please consider attending Barry’s presentation on January 30th at 7:30pm as well as the rest of the Reading Room Series events.

Barry Edelstein is a master of his craft and is living his theatre life to the fullest.

At what age would you say you became interested in the works of William Shakespeare?

It was in Junior High. I read my first Shakespeare in 7th grade English—maybe Julius Caesar? —and remember enjoying it, but it wasn’t until 10th grade when I acted in A Midsummer Night’s Dream that I really got the bug. The drama teacher at my public school in Bergen County, NJ, was a New York actor whose day job was teaching suburban kids. He did vivid, fun productions and made it hugely appealing to be onstage, and even better, to be in a company working on something. I was a goner from that moment: in love with theatre, and in love with Shakespeare. Something about the way the words felt in my body and mind transported me and made me feel happy.

Where did you receive your training?

I have a Master’s in Shakespeare from Oxford University, where I studied as a Rhodes Scholar. After finishing there I spent a year in London taking directing classes with a small (and sadly now defunct) program in Regent’s Park. During those three years in England, I saw a ton of theatre in London, Stratford, and all over Europe.  It was an amazing time. But I think my real training came when I returned to New York. Joe Papp hired me to be the resident dramaturg on his famous “Shakespeare Marathon” at the Public. I assisted directors and sat in rehearsal rooms with the leading theatre-makers of that period. That, more than any schooling, was my real training ground.

What was your first professional job as a director?

The first time I got paid to direct was The Taming of the Shrew at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival in Boise—maybe 1992 or so. I honestly can’t remember if the show worked or not, but it was crazy. I set it in a firehouse in the Bronx. God only knows why! But I remember that Petruchio was a preening, macho guy out of some mob movie. In the scene where Petruchio has his men cook for him and then throws his food away, he says, “What’s this? Mutton?”  But in this production he said, “What’s this? Lasagna?” Still makes me laugh. And at one point, Kate, totally at the end of her rope and unable even to scream anymore, went to the alarm in the firehouse and sounded a siren while facing Petruchio with her mouth wide open.

Where did the idea for this adaptation of Henry 6 come from?

Many places. First, the three plays were the only Shakespeare works The Old Globe had never done, so we wanted to complete the canon. Second, I’ve long loved them and always wanted to have a go. Third, the Globe’s wonderful, community-based Arts Engagement platform was primed for a major artistic project that could bring nonprofessional, regular San Diegans directly into the making of a major professional production. The three plays just seemed perfect for a major undertaking by this theatre.

From the initial idea to the January 30th presentation at Folger Theatre, how long has the process for Henry 6 taken?

We started talking about the project in 2017 and got going in earnest in 2019.  The pandemic caused a two-year hiatus. So, it’s been a long arc.

Having produced Shakespeare at NY’s Public Theatre and now as Artistic Director of San Diego’s Old Globe, do you find audiences react differently to his works on the West Coast versus the East Coast?

Both cities have wonderful Shakespeare audiences. If there’s a difference, it’s that there’s much more professional Shakespeare to see in New York, and so audiences there may come to a production with others that they’ve seen in their memory. Whereas the Globe really is the only major producer of professional Shakespeare at a large scale in all of Southern California, and we’re larger even than the other great companies in this state that do the plays. That means that the region’s taste in Shakespeare has been forged by our work. It’s an audience that listens carefully; actors tell me that they love playing Shakespeare here because the listening in the house is so intense and acute. 

Shakespeare can be interpreted in many ways. What do you think is the key to a good interpretation/adaption of Shakespeare’s works?

I think it’s all about those amazing words and what they sound like when spoken. I want to see actors who make me believe that they are making up these lines as they speak them. I want to see amazing human brains under immense pressure mint fresh, new language that launches into the air like lightning. “White hot thought,” is how the great Michael Langham described it, and that, to me, is the gold standard. No matter how a director reads a play and how a team of designers conjure a world, to me the most important thing is the muscularity and materiality of thought rendered in language.

Are there any of Shakespeare’s plays that you have not had a chance to direct/adapt yet that you would be interested in doing that with?

I’ve now directed 19 of them: one more than half.  I want to do the rest, if the Almighty and the Board of The Old Globe grant me enough time. Right now, I’m thinking a lot about King Lear, which I suppose is pretty obvious and not all that original, given the times we’re in. There are a zillion reasons to cherish that play, but to me it’s the one that rattles me more than the others. Othello horrifies me; Much Ado charms me; The Winter’s Tale moves me. But only Lear makes me need to take a long, long walk alone. It’s a vision of human cruelty and social inequity that’s shocking in its violence, and for that reason, I’m not sure I want to put it into the world right now. On the other hand, the scene in which Edgar, disguised, walks his blind father to the edge of Dover Cliff and then convinces him that he’s leapt off and somehow miraculously survived may be the tonic that this world needs most right now. It’s about the imagination’s power to transform reality, and it always feels to me like some sort of mystical path forward.

On the other end of the last question, Do you have a favorite Shakespeare play and are there any that you would like to direct again?

I wouldn’t mind a second go at Cymbeline: I did it at NYU Grad Acting many years ago and found the bonkers ending really healing and magical. But The Winter’s Tale is my favorite, with its vision of second chances and restorations that undo moments of massive destruction. I love it very deeply.

What does 2025 hold in store for you workwise?

After the massive lift of Henry 6 I’m not directing in 2025. Instead, I’m working on some stuff for 2026. An Ibsen I plan to do, a couple of new plays, and another adaptation I’d like to write.  Plus running this huge and complex theatre company. And having a milestone birthday. And getting my daughter off to college. It’s a full plate.
 

Special thanks to Folger Theatre's Events Publicity & Marketing Manager Peter Eramo Jr. for his assistance in coordinating this interview.

Additional thanks to Idaho Shakespeare Festival's archivist Gwyn Hervochon and Director of Marketing Hannah Read Newbill for their assistance with additional photo support.

To post a comment, you must register and login.