The Old Globe Announces Return of GLOBE FOR ALL TOUR. FREE Shakespeare throughout San Diego

With SHAKESPEARE: CALL AND RESPONSE, Conceived and Directed by Patricia McGregor, from OCTOBER 26 to NOVEMBER 14, 2021

Touring Free Shakespeare to Multiple Community Partner Venues
and Culminating with a Public Performance on the
Globe’s Lowell Davies Festival Theatre Stage
for Closing Night, November 14, 2021

(left, background) Jared Van Heel and Anthony Green as Antigonus in the Globe for All tour of Shakespeare’s The Winter's Tale, 2019. Photo by Rich Soublet II.

The Old Globe presents the return of the Globe for All Tour, a free Shakespeare tour that reaches locations throughout San Diego County—now in its seventh year of making theatre matter to more people! Director and creator Patricia McGregor, an Old Globe Resident Artist, returns to the Globe

Patricia McGregor directs GFA Tour

with her innovative Shakespeare production of Shakespeare: Call and Response, featuring the talented Globe for All company of professional actors. The company will bring a stirring production to various economically, geographically, and culturally diverse communities throughout San Diego County, including Old Globe Community Partner venues from San Ysidro to Oceanside. The free-admission Globe for All Tour kicks off on Tuesday, October 26, with opening night on Thursday, October 28, and running for three weeks, from Tuesdays to Sundays, with a culminating closing night performance on November 14, 2021, on the Globe’s Lowell Davies Festival Theatre stage. 

Rooted in the vibrant interplay between performers and audience, Shakespeare: Call and Response is an hour-long celebration of verse, music, dance, and audience participation. Built for plazas and outdoor venues, the piece features five virtuosic actors, who transform into a variety of roles based on feedback from the audience. Part “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and part “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged),” the event is anchored by a DJ inviting the crowd in while spinning hits to get people on their feet. No two shows are the same, but all include scenes from five significant Shakespeare plays. Shakespeare: Call and Response is a dynamic dialogue between the greatest writer of all time and the dynamic citizens of America’s Finest City, leaving both transformed for the better.

Community members enjoying a pre-show activity before a performance of Globe for All, 2018. Photo by Rich Soublet II.

“It’s a real joy to bring the Globe for All Tour back to neighborhoods around our region,” 

said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. 

“The return of this key program in our commitment to making theatre matter to more people is yet one more sign that our city, and the arts, in particular, are roaring back to vibrant life after a long shutdown. Globe for All is a celebration of theatre and community, and Shakespeare is its beating heart. This year, the brilliant Patricia McGregor breaks new ground and shows us how thrilling the connection between artist and audience can be. Under her direction, a gifted company of actors connects Shakespeare to this moment with laughter and celebration. I’m so looking forward to being with our partners and rejoicing that theatre is back!”

“These last couple of years have taught us that we are resilient in the face of uncertainty,” 

stated Freedome Bradley-Ballentine, Associate Artistic Director and Director of Arts Engagement. 

“Shakespeare is masterful at exploring the human condition, and his prolific works are very relevant in speaking to the times we are living in today. Globe Resident Artist Patricia McGregor has gathered Shakespeare scenes that speak to the moment we are in and stitched them together with newly written and devised work to create something unique. Shakespeare: Call and Response is a celebration and exploration of the things that bind us: love, family, loss, and tragedy. It’s a beautiful way for us to enjoy theatre outdoors, safely and together.”

Arts Engagement Programs Manager Laura Zablit with audience members at the Globe for All tour of Shakespeare’s The Winter's Tale, 2019. Photo by Rich Soublet II.

McGregor’s previous work at the Globe includes the 2018 Globe for All Tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the riveting family drama What You Are. McGregor’s relationship with the Globe remains strong, as she was recently appointed a Resident Artist for 2021–2022, joining the Globe’s artistic staff for a two-year residency. Born from the Globe’s What Is Theatre Now? initiative, her upcoming production of Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape will be available to the public as a digital offering on The Old Globe’s YouTube channel, starring two-time Emmy Award winner Ron Cephas Jones (NBC’s “This Is Us”). 

Community Partners will enjoy this unique Shakespearean experience presented in nontraditional theatre venues within their own neighborhoods. The list of venues include the Mountain View Park, San Diego Central Library, Chula Vista Public Library Civic Center Branch, CSU San Marcos, Oceanside Civic Center Plaza, and Lauderbach Park. The tour will culminate in a public performance on Sunday, November 14 on the Globe’s Lowell Davies Festival Theatre stage. Venue dates, times, and locations will be announced at a later date. 

Since its inception, the Globe for All Tour has made theatre matter to more than 11,000 audience members by bringing free, live, professional productions of Shakespeare and shows from our mainstage to diverse multigenerational audiences in neighborhoods throughout San Diego. It is performed in military bases, homeless shelters, senior and correctional facilities, libraries, and any place where people may not enjoy regular access to professional performing arts.

No tickets or registrations are required to attend the free, open performances in the community. Seating will be first-come, first-served, and will depend on the venue’s capacity. Please go to www.theoldglobe.org/arts-engagement/globe-for-all for more information.

Audience member at the Globe for All tour of Shakespeare’s
The Winter's Tale, 2019.
Photo by Rich Soublet II.

All patrons who attend an event or performance at The Old Globe will be required to wear masks while attending, as well as present proof of COVID-19 vaccination or provide negative results of a COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of entering the performance space. Additional details about The Old Globe’s COVID-19 policies are available here.

Organizations interested in partnering with the Globe for All Tour and hosting a performance in the future should contact Laura Zablit, Arts Engagement Programs Manager, at lzablit@TheOldGlobe.org or (619) 231-1941 x2143.

The Tony Award–winning The Old Globe is one of the country’s leading professional not-for-profit regional theatres. Now in its 87th 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.

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THE OLD GLOBE – 2021 CALENDAR

September 11 – October 17 – The Gardens of Anuncia
September 25 – 2021 Globe Gala
October 2 and 3 – AXIS: Power Ball (site-specific dance performance)
October 7 – November 7 – Shutter Sisters
October 9 – Globe Learning Virtual Workshop: Theatre Games with Neurodiverse Actors
November 2 – AXIS: Día de Muertos/Day of the Dead Celebration
November 10 – December 31 - Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
November 19 – December 26 - Ebenezer Scrooge’s BIG San Diego Christmas Show
December 11 – AXIS: Grinch Sensory-Friendly AXIS Event