The season, restructured to run September to June, will see works on both stages — the Old Globe Theatre and the Cassius Carter Centre Stage — at the San Diego venue. In addition to the eight productions in the subscription series, the Old Globe will present two holiday productions with the traditional How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and the new musical work Striking 12.
Starting the season will be Tom Stoppard’s Rough Crossing. The farce set in the 1930s aboard an ocean liner crossing the Atlantic is adapted from Ferenc Molnar's Play at the Castle. The author of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, The Real Thing, Arcadia, and The Invention of Love delves into this story in which a musical-comedy writing team and their speech-impaired composer race to complete their new work before they port. Stan Wojewodski directs the production.
Joe Penhall's Blue/Orange begins the season at the Cassius Carter Centre Stage. The comedy, to be directed by Richard Seer, focuses on two opposing psychiatrists who disagree about the diagnosis and treatment of their patient. The play, which has also seen the New York stage, won the 2001 Olivier Award for Best New Play.
Celebrating the Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) "Seussentennial" celebration, in commemoration of what would have been Geisel’s 100th birthday, the Old Globe will present its sixth annual production of his much-loved holiday fable with Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The production, directed by Old Globe artistic director Jack O'Brien, features book and lyrics by Timothy Mason with music by Mel Marvin.
Another holiday offering from the Old Globe will play the Cassius Carter Centre Stage. Striking 12, written and performed by the band GrooveLily, blends the tale of a grumpy man alone on New Year’s Eve with the Hans Christian Andersen story of "The Little Match Girl." Brendan Milburn, Rachel Sheinkin and Valerie Vigoda — who comprise GrooveLily — presented the work as part of Theatreworks' 2003 New Works Festival at Palo Alto, California. Sky Girls by Jenny Laird will start off the new year at the Cassius Carter space under the direction of Brendon Fox. The drama follows five female pilots who during World War II hope to become part of the US Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs). Set in 1944, the play follows the trainees as they struggle to earn their wings amid internal sabotage and a media frenzy, as a Congressional vote that sent them into action hangs in the balance.
William Inge’s Bus Stop takes to the stage of the Old Globe next. Gerald Gutierrez directs the American classic drama which centers on a group of bus passengers who become stranded in a Kansas diner during a snowstorm. The play was the follow-up work to Inge's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Picnic.
Speaking of the Pulitzer, Cuban playwright Nilo Cruz took this year's award for his work Anna and the Tropics. The lauded scribe's Two Sisters and a Piano will hit the San Diego stage, directed by Karen Carpenter. Set in Havana in 1991, the play follows two sisters — a writer and a pianist — who are put under house arrest for speaking out against Fidel Castro.
The west coast premiere of Arthur Miller’s latest work Resurrection Blues will play at the Old Globe stage. The satire set in a South American country where a messiah-like man threatens the rule of a general. The leader captures the dissident and sells the rights to his televised crucifixion to an American corporation. The play made its world premiere at Minneapolis' Guthrie Theatre.
Nicky Silver’s The Food Chain finishes up the Cassius Carter Centre Stage season. The comedy focuses on an anorexic poet, her husband, a male model and a stalker and the antics that bring them all together.
The final Old Globe production of the season will be Stephen Wadsworth's adaptation and translation Don Juan by Moliere. The classic tale of the infamous lady lover takes new shape as Wadsworth mixes French drama conventions with commedia dell'arte.
The complete season lineup (subject to change) is as follows:
