Robert Foxworth & Patrick Page to Headline 2010 Shakespeare Festival

Executive Producer Lou Spisto today announced principal casting for the Globe's 2010 Shakespeare Festival performed in repertory. Robert Foxworth will play King Lear and Patrick Page the Fool in Shakespeare's tragedy, directed by Festival Artistic Director Adrian Noble. The crowns are swapped in Alan Bennett's The Madness of George III, also helmed by Noble, where Page will play King George III and Foxworth will play Dr. Willis. The Festival also includes Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew directed by Ron Daniels with Jonno Roberts and Emily Swallow as the two sparring lovers.

"I'm thrilled to begin our 75th Anniversary celebration with this very exciting Shakespeare Festival headed by Royal Shakespeare Company veteran, Adrian Noble," said Spisto. I'm especially pleased to welcome back to the Globe stage two of the country's leading actors, Robert Foxworth and Patrick Page."

The 2010 Shakespeare Festival runs June 12 - Sept. 26 and begins the Globe's year-long celebration of its 75th Anniversary. Shakespeare was first produced at the Globe in 1935 as part of the California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park and has been central to the Globe's mission since that time. King Lear runs June 12 - Sept. 23. Previews run June 12, 13, 24 and 25. Opening night is June 26. The Taming of the Shrew runs June 16 - Sept. 26. Previews run June 16, 17, 27 and 29. Opening night is June 30. The Madness of George III runs June 19 - Sept. 24. Previews run June 19 and 20 and July 1 and 2. Opening night is July 3.

Robert Foxworth (King Lear, King Lear; Dr. Willis, The Madness of George III) is an Associate Artist of The Old Globe and has appeared in Cornelia, Julius Caesar, Private Lives and Below the Belt. Foxworth has been seen on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning August: Osage County, Twelve Angry Men, Judgment at Nuremberg, Honour, Ivanov, Candida, Love Letters, The Crucible (Theatre World Award) and King Henry V, and played Robert in the national tour of Proof. His stage work also includes Claudius in Daniel Sullivan's Hamlet (South Coast Repertory), Cyrano (Great Lakes Theatre Festival), Iago and Macbeth (Guthrie Theater), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Hartford Stage), Galileo (CENTERSTAGE) and Uncle Vanya (Geffen Playhouse). His numerous television and film credits include "Falcon Crest," "Six Feet Under," "Gilmore Girls," Syriana and voice of Ratchet in Transformers I and II.

Patrick Page (Fool, King Lear; George III, The Madness of George III) recently appeared in I Do! I Do! in the Globe's new Sheryl and Harvey White Theater. He has also appeared at the Globe as Cyrano in Cyrano de Bergerac (San Diego Critics Circle Craig Noel Award) and Malvolio in Twelfth Night (2009 Shakespeare Festival), as well as Pogo Poole in The Pleasure of His Company and Jeffrey Cordova in Dancing in the Dark (Craig Noel Award). On Broadway, Page has been seen as Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons (Outer Critics Circle nomination), The Grinch in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Scar in The Lion King, Brutus in Julius Caesar, Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, Marley in A Christmas Carol and multiple roles in The Kentucky Cycle.

Jonno Roberts (Edmund, King Lear; Petruchio, The Taming of the Shrew) has appeared on Broadway in Take Me Out and Off Broadway in Bug, Monster and Uncle Vanya. His regional credits include King Lear (Shakespeare Theatre Company); Mother Courage, Richard II and Antigone (American Repertory Theater); and A Streetcar Named Desire (Intiman Theatre). Roberts' international credits include Wozzeck (Toronto); Villeggiatura Trilogy and The Spiritualists (Russia and Europe); and MedeaMaterial, Hamletmachine and King Lear (New Zealand).

Emily Swallow (Goneril, King Lear; Katherina, The Taming of the Shrew; Queen Charlotte, The Madness of George III) appeared on Broadway as Charlie and Marie LaSalle in High Fidelity and Off Broadway in Romantic Poetry (Manhattan Theatre Club), The Black Eyed (New York Theatre Workshop), Measure for Pleasure (The Public Theatre/NYSF) and Like Love (NY Musical Theatre Festival). Her regional credits include Pop! (Yale Repertory Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Guthrie Theater) and Enchanted April (San Jose Repertory Theatre).

Adrian Noble joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1980 and served as its Artistic Director and Chief Executive from 1990-2003. His recent theater productions include Hamlet for the Stratford Festival of Canada, Cosi Fan Tutte for the Opera De Lyon, Kean 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 Gate Theatre 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.

Ron Daniels returns to The Old Globe after directing last season's hip hop musical, Kingdom, which was performed at both San Diego's Lincoln High School and the Globe. He is an Honorary Associate Director of the RSC, and a former Artistic Director of its experimental theatre, The Other Place. He is also the former Associate Artistic Director of American Repertory Theater. Born and raised in Rio de Janerio, Daniels is a founding member of São Paulo's Teatro Oficina. His upcoming projects include Il Postino for the L.A Opera, which opens in Los Angeles in September starring Plácido Domingo. The production will then be seen in Paris and Vienna.

In addition to the Shakespeare Festival, the Globe's 2010 Summer Season features the World Premiere of the Broadway-bound musical, Robin and the 7 Hoods, directed by Casey Nicholaw with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Jimmy Van Heusen, and the West Coast Premiere of The Last Romance, a romantic comedy by Joe DiPietro starring television icon, Marion Ross. Tickets to the 2010 Summer Season are currently available by subscription only.

SEASON SUBSCRIPTIONS offer substantial savings with special subscriber benefits. Subscriptions can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE [234-5623] or by visiting the box office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Subscriptions to the Globe's Summer Season range from $75 to $372. Five-play packages range from $146 to $372. Four-play packages (Festival plus musical) range from $117 to $316. Shakespeare Festival packages (3 plays) range from $75 to $228. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and younger, seniors and groups of 10 or more.

LOCATION: The Old Globe is located in San Diego's Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. There are several free parking lots available throughout the park. Valet parking is also available ($10). For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org.

CALENDAR: Boeing-Boeing (3/13-4/18), Alive and Well (3/20-4/25), What You Will (5/11-6/6), The Whipping Man (5/8-6/13), King Lear (6/12-9/23), The Madness of George III (6/19-9/24), The Taming of the Shrew (6/16- 9/26), Robin and the 7 Hoods (7/14-8/22), Last Romance (7/30-9/5).

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 600-seat Old Globe Theatre, the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre 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 and community programs. Numerous world premieres 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 on Broadway and at regional theaters across the country.

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