The Old Globe Reprises THINKING SHAKESPEARE LIVE! Today

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 Old Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and assisted by three professional classical actors. Following successful showings in the past two seasons and a recent presentation earlier this month, The Old Globe will offer a reprise today, August 8 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, Thinking Shakespeare Live! will take place on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Tickets are currently available to donors and subscribers only and will go on sale to the public on Tuesday, June 30 at 12 noon. Tickets are $10 for subscribers and full-time students and $15 for general audiences and 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 2015 Shakespeare Festival, and continuing the Globe's 80th Anniversary festivities as part of the Balboa Park Centennial Celebration, Thinking Shakespeare Live! is a fast-paced, funny, and altogether fascinating guide to the language of the Bard. In this lively 90-minute program, Old Globe Artistic Director 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 at a later date.

The Old Globe kicks off its annual 2015 Shakespeare Festival with the Bard's charming comedy Twelfth Night, directed by Rebecca Taichman, running June 21 - July 26. Joining Twelfth Night in the Festival is Shakespeare's hilarious tale of mistaken identity, The Comedy of Errors, directed by Scott Ellis, August 16 - September 20. Meanwhile, Cole Porter and Sam and Bella Spewack's classic showbiz musical comedy Kiss Me, Kate, about the backstage shenanigans of a touring company of The Taming of the Shrew, runs July 1 - August 2. Tony Award winner and former Old Globe Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak directs and Peggy Hickey choreographs the co-production with Hartford Stage. Rounding out the Summer Season is the wildly inventive mystery adaptation Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, playing July 24 - August 23.

Twelfth Night and The Comedy of Errors will run in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Kiss Me, Kate will play on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre and Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, both part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.

The Globe will also present a series of free Monday night films relating to Shakespeare through the eras to celebrate both the Balboa Park Centennial and the theatre's 80th Anniversary. On June 29, the Globe will present Henry V, directed by Laurence Olivier in 1944, in the Festival Theatre. It will be followed by Orson Welles's 1965 classic Chimes at Midnight on July 13 and Joss Whedon's 2012 Much Ado About Nothing on August 3 (both in the Globe Theatre). The series will conclude on August 24 with Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins's groundbreaking 1961 New York City riff on the Bard's Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, in the Festival Theatre.

Barry Edelstein is a stage director, producer, author, and educator. Widely 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 West Coast premiere of novelist Nathan Englander's play The Twenty-seventh Man; and the upcoming world premiere of Michael John LaChuisa and Sybille Pearson's musical Rain. He also directed All's Well That Ends Well as the inaugural production of Globe for All, a new producing platform that tours the works of Shakespeare to diverse communities throughout San Diego County. 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 extensive 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; Shakespeare's 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 1998-2003 he was Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company. 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. 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. Edelstein has taught Shakespearean acting at The Juilliard School, NYU'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.

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. The Balboa Park valet is also available during performances ($12), located in front of the Japanese Friendship Garden. For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org. For directions and up-to-date information, please visit www.TheOldGlobe.org/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.

Photo by Douglas Gates