Jonathan Cake & Marsha Stephanie Blake to Star in The Old Globe's MACBETH; Cast & Creative Team Set

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team of the first offering in the 2016 Summer Shakespeare Festival: William Shakespeare's thrilling classic Macbeth, directed by Brian Kulick, Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company and a leading Shakespearean expert. The so-called "Scottish Play" will run June 19 - July 24, 2016, in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Previews run June 19 - 24. Opening night is Saturday, June 25 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets start at $29, on sale now to the general public.

Tempted by an evil prophecy and encouraged by his wife ever deeper into his own dark ambition, Macbeth murders his way to the throne of Scotland. Shakespeare's chilling tragedy is filled with ferocious battles, supernatural horrors, famously gorgeous poetry, and some of the Bard's most vivid characters. A stellar cast, under the direction of renowned Shakespearean Brian Kulick, will electrify the San Diego night with a stunning rendition of one of Shakespeare's masterpieces.

Macbeth features Jonathan Cake (Cymbeline, Medea, and The Philanthropist on Broadway) in the title role and Marsha Stephanie Blake ("Orange is the New Black," Broadway's The Merchant of Venice and Joe Turner's Come and Gone) as his Lady Macbeth. The cast also includes Jerome Preston Bates (Seven Guitars and Stick Fly on Broadway) as Duncan; Clifton Duncan (The Scottsboro Boys at the Globe) as Macduff; Brian Keane (Timon of Athens at The Public Theater) as Ross and 3rd Murderer; John Lavelle (The Royale at the Globe and Off Broadway) as Porter and 1st Murderer; James Joseph O'Neil (Broadway's Present Laughter, a dozen shows at the Globe) as Lennox, 2nd Murderer, and Seyton; Mark Pinter (Othello and the Two Gentlemen of Verona at the Globe, 2014) as Old Man and Siward; and Timothy D. Stickney (five-year company member with Stratford Shakespeare Festival) as Banquo.

Joining them are actors from The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, playing a variety of roles and comprising the Ensemble, including Amara James Aja as Bloody Captain and Menteith; Amy Blackman as 2nd Witch; Ally Carey as Lady Macduff; Ajinkya Desai as Fleance; Talley Beth Gale as Gentlewoman; Kevin Hafso-Koppman as Donalbain; Lorenzo Landini as Young Siward; Jake Millgard as Angus; Makha Mthembu as 1st Witch; Christina A. Okolo as Ensemble; Suzelle Palacios as 3rd Witch; Daniel Petzold as Malcolm; and Nathan Whitmer as Doctor.

The creative team is comprised of Arnulfo Maldonado (Scenic Design), Oana Botez (Costume Design), Jason Lyons (Lighting Design), Sten Severson and David Thomas (Sound Design), George Yé (Fight Director), David Huber (Vocal Coach), Jim Carnahan, CSA (Casting), and Annette Elena Nixon (Production Stage Manager).

"I'm excited that Macbeth is kicking off our Festival in this year of Shakespeare celebrations," said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "It's one of my very favorite Shakespeare plays and one of the Bard's most thrilling plays to watch: suspenseful, epic, and beautiful all at the same time. Brian Kulick possesses one of the great minds in the American theatre, and his production is going to be a memorable one, especially in the hands of this hugely talented company, led by Jonathan Cake and Marsha Stephanie Blake, two actors of striking intensity."

Brian Kulick (Director) is finishing up his final year as Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company, a theatre he has led since 2003. This season he directed Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children with Kecia Lewis and Lessing's rarely seen Nathan the Wise with F. Murray Abraham. Mr. Kulick's other directing credits for CSC include Ostrovsky's The Forest with Dianne Wiest and Shakespeare's The Tempest with Mandy Patinkin, Hamlet, Richard II, and Richard III with longtime collaborator Michael Cumpsty. He commissioned and co-directed poet Anne Carson's award-winning An Oresteia and recently helmed a series of critically acclaimed remountings of Brecht's Galileo, The Caucasian Chalk Circle and A Man's a Man. He produced CSC's much-celebrated Chekhov Cycle, which included all five of the major plays of Anton Chekhov with a constellation of artists that included Alan Cumming, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ethan Hawke, Denis O'Hare, Joely Richardson, Peter Sarsgaard, John Turturro and Dianne Wiest. He has made CSC a home for the work of playwright David Ives, producing the world premiere of Venus in Fur, which later transferred to Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play. Prior to this, Mr. Kulick was an Artistic Associate and then Associate Producer at The Public Theater, where he directed Twelfth Night, The Winter's Tale, and Timon of Athens as part of the theatre's popular Shakespeare in the Park. He also directed Pericles, A Dybbuk, and Kit Marlowe at the theatre's downtown home on Lafayette Street. His directing work has also been seen at New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Mark Taper Forum, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company, Magic Theatre, and McCarter Theatre Center. He also teaches in the graduate directing program at Columbia University with Anne Bogart.

Macbeth is supported in part through gifts from Leading Production Sponsors Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Fund and Qualcomm, and Production Sponsors Holland America Line and June Yoder; as well as Artist Sponsors for Jonathan Cake, Sue and Edward "Duff" Sanderson.

TICKETS to Macbeth are currently on sale to the general public. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 234-5623, or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Performances begin on June 19 and continue through July 24. Performance times: Previews: Sunday, June 19 at 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 21 at 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 22 at 8:00 p.m., Thursday, June 23 at 8:00 p.m., and Friday, June 24 at 8:00 p.m. Opening night is Saturday, June 25 at 8:00 p.m. Regular performances: Tuesday through Sunday evenings at 8:00 p.m. There will be no performance on Sunday, July 17, and there will be an 8:00 p.m. performance added on Monday, July 18. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors, military members, and groups of 10 or more.

Additional events taking place during the run of Macbeth include:

INSIGHTS SEMINAR: Tuesday, June 21 at 6:30 p.m.

The seminar series features a panel selected from the artistic company of the current show. Reception at 6:00 p.m. FREE

POST-SHOW FORUMS: Tuesdays, June 28 and July 5, and Wednesday, June 29

Discuss the play with members of the cast and crew following the performance. FREE

SHAKESPEARE IN THE GARDEN: Tuesday, June 28; Wednesday, June 29; Thursday, June 30; Friday, July 1; Saturday, July 2; all at 7:00 p.m.

A series of informal presentations in the Craig Noel Garden that enhance the theatregoing experience. FREE

The complete Old Globe 2016 Summer Season also features new and familiar works directed by four major American stalwarts. The season features the welcome return of Steve Martin (Bright Star) with the world premiere of his new play Meteor Shower, an adult comedy, directed by Gordon Edelstein, in a co-production with Long Wharf Theatre, where Edelstein serves as Artistic Director. Paul Gordon's musical Sense and Sensibility will have its West Coast premiere, presented in association with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where it had its world premiere in February 2015, directed by CST Artistic Director Barbara Gaines. Following Macbeth, the Summer Shakespeare Festival will conclude with Love's Labor's Lost, directed by three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall.

From June 4 to July 7, 2016, the Globe, in partnership with the San Diego Public Library, will be the California host for First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare, on tour from the Folger Shakespeare Library, one of the world's most treasured books. Published in 1623, this famous volume is the first collected edition of Shakespeare's 36 plays, half of which would have been lost if not for its publication. The Folger Shakespeare Library, in partnership with Cincinnati Museum Center and the American Library Association, is touring a First Folio across the nation, visiting one location in each of the 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. The volume will be on view in the Art Gallery at the San Diego Central Library @ Joan ? Irwin Jacobs Common. During the entire month, the Globe, the Library, and their project partners-UC San Diego, San Diego State University, University of San Diego, KPBS Public Broadcasting, and the San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture-will offer numerous public programs for adults and families before, during, and after the tour visits San Diego. For more information: http://www.firstfoliosandiego2016.org/index.html.

Photo by Walter McBride