Happy Birthday, Old Globe

The Old Globe Theatre, celebrating its 50th anniversary during this summer’s Festival ‘85, is more than just a cultural treasure for San Diego--it’s a major source of community pride.

That’s the way people here have viewed the Globe since local residents raised $10,000 to save the “temporary” theater from planned destruction after its second season in 1936. The pride has been evident throughout the Old Globe’s history, but never more so than when the original theater was destroyed by arson in 1978. Within a month, nearly $500,000 in unsolicited contributions were received.

In July, the Old Globe’s 500th production will be presented on the new Lowell Davies Festival Stage. Fittingly, it’s a Shakespeare play, as 120 other Old Globe productions have been.

The Old Globe Theatre has been the heart of San Diego’s cultural life for half a century. We wish it a happy birthday and many more decades of continued artistic achievement.