SAN DIEGO: The Old Globe has announced the 2021 Classical Directing Fellowship cohort, now in its second edition. Led by artistic director Barry Edelstein, the 2021 cohort includes Meg DeBoard, Yolanda Marie Franklin, Awoye Timpo, and Edward Torres.
“COVID-19 forced us to postpone our Classical Directing Fellowship last year, and I am truly delighted that we’ve found a way to gather these four talented directors virtually and resume this exciting work,” Edelstein said in a statement. “Meg, Yolanda, Awoye, and Eddie are deeply gifted, and I know our week together will be full of discovery, growth, and great art.”
The fellowship focuses on Shakespeare’s text, how it is put together, and how it works in the imaginations and voices of American actors. The work will culminate in a private online presentation on March 12.
DeBoard is a San Diego-based director who has served as an assistant director on productions at the Globe and La Jolla Playhouse. She specializes in physical theatre and is the director of theatre at Point Loma Nazarene University. She is also a member of the board of Big Bridge Theatre Consortium, which commissions new plays that promote peace.
Franklin is the executive artistic director of Common Ground Theatre, one of the longest-running Black theatre companies in the country. She won two San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Awards for her 2017 production of The Ballad of Emmett Till. Franklin is also a multi award-winning actor.
Timpo is a Brooklyn-based director and producer. She has directed productions at the Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Studio Theatre, the Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, as well as in Scotland and South Africa. Timpo is a founding producer of CLASSIX, a series exploring plays by Black writers.
Torres has directed multiple productions at the Globe, including Familiar, Native Gardens, and Water by the Spoonful, as well as two readings for the Powers New Voices Festivals. He recently directed a podcast version of Macbeth for NEXT Podcast and Play On Shakespeare. Torres directed the premiere of Kristoffer Diaz’s The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity at Victory Gardens Theater and Teatro Vista, which won two Jeff Awards. He is an assistant professor of practice in theatre at Wesleyan University, and is artistic director emeritus at Teatro Vista.
The Old Globe is San Diego’s flagship performing arts institution and serves a vibrant community with theatre as a public good.
