The Old Globe will be back on the road next week for the seventh year of its Globe for All tour of free public performances at community centers, libraries and parks from Chula Vista to Oceanside and Lemon Grove to San Marcos.

Over the years, the Globe for All Tour has entertained over 11,000 spectators with professional productions of Shakespeare’s plays and Shakespeare-inspired shows presented to a diverse multigenerational audience. Besides public places, private performances are also presented in homeless shelters, military bases and correctional facilities.

Old Globe art director Barry Edelstein said in a statement that the relaunch of the Globe for All tour after the 18-month pandemic is “one more sign that our city, and the arts in particular, are coming back to life afterwards. a long close Globe for All is a celebration of theater and community, and Shakespeare is its beating heart.

This year’s production is “Shakespeare: Call and Response”, designed and directed by Old Globe resident artist Patricia McGregor, who performed both the Globe for All 2018 tour and the upcoming Globe for All film production of “Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape,” which premieres on the Old Globe YouTube channel on Monday, October 25.

“Shakespeare: Call and Response” is an hour-long celebration of verse, music, dance and audience participation performed by five actors who transform into a variety of Shakespeare characters based on audience feedback. Described in “Who owns the line anyway?” and the part “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)”, it is a fast paced show hosted by a DJ that will change with each performance but feature scenes from five of William Shakespeare’s important plays.

Freedome Bradley-Ballentine, associate artistic director and director of artistic engagement at The Globe, said Shakespeare lived in uncertain times, just as we do today, so his plays remain timeless.

“Shakespeare is masterful in exploring the human condition, and his prolific works are very relevant to talking about the times we live in today,” Bradley-Ballentine said in a statement. Patricia McGregor put together scenes from Shakespeare that speak of the moment we are and stitched them together with newly written and designed works to create something unique. “Shakespeare: Call and Response” is a celebration and exploration of things that bind us together: love, family, loss and tragedy It’s a great way for us to enjoy outdoor theater, safely and together.

Admission to all performances of “Shakespeare: Call and Response” is free. No ticket is required. First come, first served. All clients attending the closing performance at the Old Globe on November 14 must wear a mask and submit proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 PCR test result within 72 hours of the performance. For more details, visit theoldglobe.org/arts-engagement/globe-for-all.

Performance schedule:

4:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 27 – Mountain View Park, 641 S Boundary St, San Diego
4 p.m. Thursday, October 28 – San Diego Central Public Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village
3:30 p.m. October 29 – Martin Luther King Jr. Park, 570 S. 65th St., Encanto
4:30 p.m. October – Chula Vista Civic Center Library, 365 F St., Chula Vista
4 p.m. November 2 – Cal State San Marcos University Student Union, 595 Campus View Drive, San Marcos
4:30 p.m. November 5 – Prescott Promenade, 200 E. Main Street, El Cajon
4 p.m. November 6 – Montgomery-Waller Recreation Center, 3020 Coronado Ave., Otay Mesa
3:30 p.m. November 10 – Treganza Heritage Park, 3200 Main St., Lemon Grove
3:30 p.m. November 11 – City Heights Performance Annex, 3795 Fairmount Ave, City Heights
3:30 p.m. November 12 – Oceanside Civic Center Plaza, 300 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside
3:30 p.m. November 13 – Lauderbach Park, 333 Oxford St., Chula Vista
3:30 p.m. November 14 – Lowell Davies Festival Theater, The Old Globe, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park
Private performances will also be offered at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Center, Centinela State Prison, Las Colinas Detention and Reintegration Center, San Diego Rescue Missions, San Diego Veterans Village and at US Navy facilities in San Diego.