William Shakespeare might not attend, but his 450th birthday is April 23. And San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre is making the most of it — including a performance by Tony Award winner Roger Rees.
At 7 p.m. Monday, April 28, Rees will return to the Balboa Park theater for a one-night-only engagement of “What You Will,” his comedic 90-minute gallop through the world of Shakespeare.
Known for his roles on “Cheers” and “The West Wing” and his Tony-winning turn in Broadway’s “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby,” Rees will bring to life the Bard’s most beautiful soliloquies, along with sidesplitting accounts of some of the funniest disasters ever perpetrated on the classical stage.
The Washington Post said that in “What You Will,” Rees “conveys each character with the combination of technique and magnetism that has distinguished the Royal Shakespeare Company actors of his generation.”
At 11 a.m. Saturday, May 3, Old Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein will offer an encore of “Thinking Shakespeare Live!” his 90-minute exploration of the language of Shakespeare.
“This fast-paced, funny and altogether fascinating 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,” says the Old Globe.
Said Edelstein: “The Old Globe is one of this country’s most important producers of Shakespeare, and because his works are in our DNA, it’s our pleasure and our duty to offer our audiences new ways to connect with and enjoy them.
“These two special events do precisely that. My Thinking Shakespeare Live! is a glimpse into the ways actors and directors bring Shakespeare’s words to life. And Roger Rees’s remarkable What You Will is a scintillating example of Shakespeare at its best. Roger is a master, one of the greatest Shakespeareans we have. In his hands, Shakespeare is fun, immediate, and entirely joyous. I could listen to him do Shakespeare all day long, and I know San Diego will swoon at this brilliant evening.”
As Edelstein and three skilled actors demonstrate live on stage the methods he imparts to professional actors in the rehearsal room, this behind-the-scenes look at the creative process offers a primer on the tools used to hear and understand Shakespeare.
“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.
The Old Globe also has announced its 2014 Summer Season.
Edelstein will make his Summer Shakespeare Festival directorial debut with “Othello.” Presented in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, the Festival will also include Shakespeare’s comedy “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” directed by Globe alumnus and Tony Award nominee Mark Lamos (Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Pentecost, Resurrection Blues).
The Summer Season will also feature Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Tony Award-winning musical “Into the Woods,” which made its World Premiere at The Old Globe in 1986, in an inventive reimagining by Fiasco Theater, directed by Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld, in a production that originated at McCarter Theatre Center.
Rounding out the season is Ronald Harwood’s comedy “Quartet,” directed by Richard Seer.
“Into the Woods” will run on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre and Quartet in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, both part of the Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.
— From an Old Globe news release
