Adrian Noble Named As Artistic Director Of The Old Globe's 2010 Shakespeare Festival

Executive Producer Louis G. Spisto today announced the appointment of Adrian Noble as Artistic Director of The Old Globe's 2010 Shakespeare Festival celebrating the theater's 75th anniversary season. One of the theater's most respected and sought-after directors, Noble will oversee the Festival and direct two of the three productions presented in repertory. Noble succeeds Resident Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak who will leave his post in September to pursue independent directing opportunities. The annual festival will run from June 12 through September 26, 2010.

"The 2010 Shakespeare Festival will begin The Old Globe's year-long celebration of 75 years in Balboa Park," said Spisto. "I have long been an admirer of Adrian's work and it is tremendously exciting to have him join us at this important time at the Globe. Adrian and I are currently in the planning stages for next year's Festival and we look forward to announcing the season soon."

Noble commented, "I am thrilled to be calling San Diego and The Old Globe my artistic home during the next year. The Globe has a worldwide standing in the theater community and I am very much looking forward to working with Lou and the entire Globe staff to fashion a festival that is inspired by the Globe's remarkable 75-year history."

Noble's career has taken him around the world directing both opera and theater. He was artistic director of The Royal Shakespeare Company from 1990-2003 and has received 120 Olivier Award nominations. Noble's recent productions include Carmen at Opéra Comique in Paris (June 2009), his universally acclaimed production of Hamlet at Canada's Stratford Festival (2008), Verdi's Macbeth at The Metropolitan Opera (2007) and the West End productions of the musicals Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Secret Garden. He will also be directing Don Giovanni for Opera de Lyon and Alcina for the Vienna State Opera in upcoming seasons.

Tresnjak was invited to lead the Shakespeare Festival in 2004. He is currently represented on the Festival stage with productions of Cyrano de Bergerac and Coriolanus, and will make his directorial debut at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with Twelfth Night in June 2010.

"The last six years have been an exhilarating time for me," said Tresnjak. "I was honored to head the Shakespeare Festival as it returned to the repertory format and to have worked with the incredibly supportive staff at the Globe."

"The Old Globe Shakespeare Festival's return to repertory six years ago was met with great enthusiasm by audiences from around the country," added Spisto. "The Festival's reputation has continued to grow, with audiences from nineteen countries in attendance last season alone. Darko has contributed greatly to the Festival's tremendous success and has helped to ensure its exciting future."

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. Valet parking is also available ($10). For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org.

Shakespeare Festival: Twelfth Night, Cyrano de Bergerac and Coriolanus (in repertory thru 9/27), Sammy (9/17-11/1), The Savannah Disputation (9/26-11/1), Whisper House (1/13-2/21).

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country's leading professional regional theaters and has stood as San Diego's flagship arts institution for 74 years. Under the direction of Executive Producer Louis G. Spisto, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the 580-seat Old Globe Theatre, the 226-seat Arena Stage at the San Diego Museum of Art's James S. Copley Auditorium (an interim second stage during construction of the new 250-seat Conrad Prebys Theatre Center) and the 612-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 theater's education programs and outreach services. Numerous Broadway-bound premieres and revivals, such as The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, A Catered Affair, 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 in New York and at regional theaters across the country.

Adrian Noble led the Royal Shakespeare Company as Artistic Director and Chief Executive from 1990-2003. Noble's most recent theatre productions include Hamlet for the Stratford Festival of Canada, Cosi Fan Tutti at the Opera De Lyon, Keane for Thelma Holt Ltd at the Noel Coward Theatre, Summer and Smoke and A Woman Of No Importance for Stanhope Productions, The Home Place by Brian Friel at the Abby and the West End, Brand by Ibsen starring Ralph Fiennes, Pericles at The Roundhouse in Stratford and the West End London and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at The London Palladium starring Michael Ball. In 1980 he joined the RSC as Assistant Director, becoming an Associate Director almost immediately. His first production for the RSC was Ostrovsky's The Forest which transferred first to The Warehouse and then to the Aldwych and was named best revival in 1981 Drama Awards. In 1988 he was appointed by Terry Hands to be Artistic Director of the RSC whole Stratford season and in 1989 went on to be Artistic Director of the RSC London season. His RSC productions include A Dolls House, A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The Comedy of Errors, Measure for Measure, King Lear, Anthony and Cleopatra, The Winters Tale, Henry V, Desert Air, As You Like it, Macbeth, Kiss Me Kate, The Art of Success, The Plantagenets and The Master Builder. In 1989 Adrian left the RSC to pursue an independent career and directed The Art of Success at the Manhattan Theatre Club and Chekhov's The Three Sisters at the Gate Theatre, Dublin and The Royal Court Theatre. Noble has directed Don Giovanni for Kent Opera, The Duchess of Malfi in a circus tent in Paris, The Faerie Queen for the Peter Hall Company at the Aix-en Provence Festival and a Japanese production of Twelfth Night. He was also a member of the 1989 Gulbenkian Enquiry into Training Directors. His film A Midsummer Night's Dream was released in 1996. His production of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe opened at Sadlers Wells Theatre in December 2000 and was revived in Stratford in 2002. Noble has been awarded D.Litt from Birmingham University (1994) and Bristol University (1996).

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.