This summer, the Old Globe will include FREE Monday night screenings of four Shakespeare films as part of its 2015 Summer of Shakespeare. The films will relate to Shakespeare through the eras and celebrate both the Balboa Park Centennial and the theatre’s 80th Anniversary. They are: Henry V, directed by Laurence Olivier in 1944; Orson Welles’s 1965 classic Chimes At Midnight; Joss Whedon’s 2012 Much Ado About Nothing; and Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’s groundbreaking 1961 West Side Story. Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and Beth Accomando, author of the KPBS blog Cinema Junkie, will alternate introducing the films.
June 29: Henry V (8:15 pm)
Sir Laurence Olivier made his 1944 directorial debut and starred in Henry V, a sparklingly inventive, Oscar-nominated film adaptation of Shakespeare’s epic history play. Olivier brings the Bard’s heroic king to full-blooded life in this breathtaking and passionate cinematic masterpiece.
July 13: Chimes at Midnight
(7:00 pm)
Widely considered the greatest film adaptation of Shakespeare ever made, Orson Welles’s acclaimed 1965 masterpiece finds Shakespeare’s most famous supporting character, Sir John Falstaff, taking center stage. Drawing heavily on Henry IV and other histories by the Bard, the film follows the shifting relationship between Prince Hal and his drunken, obese, and altogether charming companion Falstaff (played by Welles himself). This enduring gem, rarely seen on the big screen, delves deep inside one of Shakespeare’s most intriguing players to shine a light on one man’s joys, struggles, and triumphs.
August 3: Much Ado About Nothing (7:00 pm)
Joss Whedon melds his trademark wit and visual splendor with the Bard’s passionate poetry to bring this classic comedy to a whole new generation. Benedick, an arrogant and confirmed bachelor, and Beatrice, his favorite sparring partner, hide their infatuation beneath witty barbs. Meanwhile, young love blossoms as Hero and Claudio fall in love and race to the altar. But when the jealous, spiteful Don John vows to destroy the wedding, Benedick and Beatrice must find common ground to make things right again.
August 24: West Side Story
(8:00 pm)
A riff on the Bard’s Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins in 1961, explodes off the screen in one of the greatest movie musicals ever made. Featuring Leonard Bernstein’s iconic score and Jerome Robbins’s exuberant choreography, West Side Story won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Admission is free but reservations are recommended and can be made only by calling (619) 23-GLOBE (234-5623). Seating is by general admission. Click Here for more information.
Shakespeare in LA 