Mark Lamos
The Old Globe has announced its 2014 summer season which will feature artistic director Barry Edelstein’s Summer Shakespeare Festival directorial debut with Shakespeare’s tragedy 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).
Othello and Two Gentlemen of Verona will feature distinct scenery and casts, each with its own separate run. This is a return to the Globe’s outdoor theater’s producing structure of 1988 to 2003 under then-artistic director Jack O’Brien. Says Edelstein, “By returning to two free-standing productions, our artists will be provided greater latitude in their responses to Shakespeare, encouraging them to take each play on its own terms, creating unique worlds with production designs that suit the individual plays. This approach will immerse audiences in these timeless stories and the singular visions these artists bring to them.”
Also included on the summer season is 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 that originated at McCarter Theatre Center. Rounding out the season is Ronald Harwood’s comedy, Quartet, directed by Richard Seer.
Othello
June 22 – July 27. 2014
Despite the prejudices in Venice, the brilliant general Othello excels both on the battlefield and in the halls of state. But when he marries Desdemona, his envious lieutenant Iago sets in motion a diabolical plan to destroy him. Edelstein gives us a riveting, intense, and intimate production where poetry soars and swords clash, where true love and wrenching jealousy collide.
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
August 10 – September 14, 2014
In Shakespeare’s delightful and boisterous comedy, best friends Valentine and Proteus travel to the big city to seek their fortunes, only to find themselves rivals, both madly in love with the beautiful Silvia, daughter of Milan’s most powerful duke.
Into the Woods
July 12 – Aug. 10, 2014
Fiasco Theater
This musical masterpiece weaves together beloved fairy tales, then ventures into the unknown territory of life after “happily ever after.” Directors Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld conjure a mythical world of theatrical invention where an ordinary rope becomes Jack’s famous beanstalk, a ladder becomes Rapunzel’s enchanted tower, and the power of transformation creates a beguiling theater of the imagination.
Quartet
July 25 – August 24, 2014
Three former opera singers, Reginald, Cecily, and Wilfred, lead a harmonious existence at a home for retired musicians — until Reginald’s ex-wife, grande dame Jean Horton, arrives. As long-ago grudges surface and old scores are settled, the quartet heads back into the rehearsal room for one final encore.
Tickets are currently available by subscription only at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by calling (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the box office.
Shakespeare in LA 