Globe For All taking ‘Henry V’ out on tour for free San Diego performances

The Old Globe will hit the road again next week for the eighth year of its Globe for All Tour of free public performances at community centers, libraries and schools from Oceanside to Tijuana and from Lemon Grove to East Village.

Over the years, the Globe for All Tour has entertained more than 11,000 audience members with professional productions of Shakespeare’s plays and Shakespeare-inspired shows performed for diverse multigenerational audiences. Beside the public venues, private performances are also presented at homeless shelters, military bases and in correctional facilities.

Old Globe artistic director Barry Edelstein said the touring show — this year’s production is Shakespeare’s “Henry V” — fulfills the company’s mission.

“The tour embodies our commitment to make theater matter to more people,” he said in a statement. “This year we bring one of my own very favorite Shakespeare plays to our partner venues, ‘Henry V.’ It’s a story about war and patriotism, but it’s also one of Shakespeare’s greatest examinations of leadership and how it works. It’s incredibly exciting, suspenseful and energetic, and it contains some of Shakespeare’s most rousing writing. I’m so looking forward to traveling with the show and watching theater draw our region together.”

This year’s production, directed by Johanna McKeon, kicks off Tuesday at a middle school in East San Diego and concludes Nov. 20 in Balboa Park. Admission is free, but registration is required. Seating is first-come, first-served. To register visit theoldglobe.org/arts-engagement/globe-for-all.

Below is the list of public performances:

• 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1: Wilson Middle School, 3838 Orange Ave., San Diego
• 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2: Roberto Alvarez Auditorium (at Lemon Grove Academy), 3121 School Lane, Lemon Grove
• 1 p.m. Nov. 6: UCSD Park & Market, 1100 Market St., San Diego
• 2 p.m. Nov. 9: The George L. Stevens Senior Center, 570 S. 65th St., San Diego
• Noon Nov. 12: San Diego Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., San Diego
• Noon Nov. 13: Oceanside Civic Center Public Library, 330 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside
• 6 p.m. Nov. 16: Lincoln High School, 4777 Imperial Ave., San Diego
• 6 p.m. Nov. 18: CECUT Tijuana Cultural Center, Paseo de los Héroes 9350, Zona Urbana Rio Tijuana
• 2 p.m. Nov. 19: Chula Vista Public Library, Civic Center branch, 365 F St., Chula Vista
• 2 p.m. Nov. 20: Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, The Old Globe, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park
  

Caroline Bowman ans Elsa in the “Frozen” national tour arriving at the San Diego Civic Theater in January 2023.

(Courtesy of Deen van Meer)

‘Frozen’ tour tickets now on sale

Broadway San Diego has opened single ticket sales for “Frozen,” the Disney Theatricals touring musical that will visit the San Diego Civic Theatre Jan. 18 through 29.

The 2018 Broadway musical by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez and Jennifer Lee is based on the 2013 animated film about two orphaned sister princesses who must fight a curse that has suspended their entire kingdom in ice. The tour company visiting San Diego is one of five now touring worldwide. For tickets, visit broadwaysd.com.

City College opens ‘Imogen Says Nothing’

San Diego City College’s drama program will open a production of the Aditi Brennan Kapil play “Imogen Says Nothing” on Friday.

Directed by assistant professor Kate Neff Stone, the play is about Imogen, who is part woman and part bear, who has escaped from a bear-fighting arena in Renaissance-era London. She meets a troupe of male actors who are about to perform Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” for the very first time, and they’re plotting to save their beloved London theater. The comedy looks at how written history can be transformed by its author and how women have been excluded from the annals of history.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Thursdays, through Nov. 5, at San Diego City College, Black Box theater, 15th and C streets, San Diego. Tickets are $5 to $15. Visit citycollegetheatre.com.

Jason Schlarmann, left, Josalyn Johnson and Robert Alegria in Patio Playhouse’s “Murder Ballad.”

(Courtesy of Ken Jacques)

Patio presents ‘Murder Ballad’

With Halloween in mind, Patio Playhouse in Escondido is presenting “Murder Ballad,” a dark 2012 musical by Juliana Nash and Julia Jordan about a woman torn between the stable but dull life with her husband and daughter and a more exciting life with her bartender-lover. By the end of the story, someone ends up dead.

Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, through Nov. 6, at 116 S. Kalmia St., Escondido. (760) 746-6669 or patioplayhouse.com.

Kragen writes about theater for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Email her at pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com.