The Old Globe Announces Cohort For The 2023 Classical Directing Fellowship

The Old Globe announced today the four-member cohort for the 2023 Classical Directing Fellowship, a program of the Karen and Stuart Tanz Fellowships at The Old Globe, led by the Globe's Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, a leading Shakespearean teacher, author, podcast host, and director.

Patrice Amon (Hoops at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, A Skeptic and a Bruja at Urbanite Theatre, Hoopla!for La Jolla Playhouse's POP Tour), Lavina Jadhwani (productions at Guthrie Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Asolo Repertory Theatre), Victor Lirio (London premiere of Adam Rapp's Red Light Winter at The Turbine Theatre, Coming Up for Air at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Noon Day Sun at Theatre Row, Suites by Sondheim at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall), and Rondrell McCormick (Between Dog and Wolf at Theatre of NOTE, Vol. 1 - A Post Racial America at Boston Court Pasadena, Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids at Orlando Shakespeare Theater and San Diego Repertory Theatre) will participate in the fourth year of this series of workshops on Shakespearean directing. The workshops will be held at the Globe from Monday, March 20 to Friday, March 24, 2023.

The Classical Directing Fellowship focuses on Shakespeare's text, how it is put together, and how it works in the imaginations and voices of American actors. In these seminars, Edelstein presents a series of techniques that the fellows then employ in rehearsals with a company of professional actors. The work culminates in a private presentation. After that, all involved debrief and broaden the conversation to larger questions about Shakespeare, American culture, and the director's art and life. Throughout the week, in addition to the artistic work, fellows meet with members of the Globe's staff in many departments to deepen knowledge of how a classically oriented theatre brings plays to life.

"Shakespeare is central to the Globe's artistic life and to our arts engagement work in communities around San Diego," said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "Our wonderful Classical Directing Fellowship helps us supply this bounty of work with talented directors. We are making contributions to our own work and also to the field at large by expanding the ranks of exciting Shakespeareans making theatre at this level, and this fellowship is an investment to that end. The 12 gifted directors who've come through the program since its inception are directing Shakespeare at the Globe and on stages all over the country, and I know that this year's amazing group of talents will do the same. The Globe and I are proud to deepen our commitment to the next generation of American theatrical talent, and grateful to Karen and Stuart Tanz for their support."

Past participants of The Old Globe's Classical Directing Fellowship include directors Jennifer Chang, Meg DeBoard,Kareem Fahmy, Manoel Felciano, Yolanda Marie Franklin, Daniel Jáquez, Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, Tai Thompson, Awoye Timpo, Edward Torres, Sam White, and La Williams.

The Classical Directing Fellowship is supported by a program of the Karen and Stuart Tanz Fellowships at The Old Globe. Financial support is provided by The City of San Diego. The Theodor and Audrey Geisel Fund provides leadership support for The Old Globe's year-round activities.

The Tony Award-winning The Old Globe is one of the country's leading professional not-for-profit regional theatres. Now in its 88th year, the Globe is San Diego's flagship performing arts institution, and it serves a vibrant community with theatre as a public good. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and the Audrey S. Geisel Managing Director Timothy J. Shields, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 16 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages, including its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people annually attend Globe productions and participate in the theatre's artistic and arts engagement programs. Its nationally prominent Arts Engagement Department provides an array of participatory programs that make theatre matter to more people in neighborhoods throughout the region. Humanities programs at the Globe and around the city broaden the community's understanding of theatre art in all its forms. The Globe also boasts a range of new play development programs with professional and community-based writers, as well as the renowned The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program. Numerous world premieres-such as 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Bright Star, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! -have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.