By Barbara Smith – Contributing Writer
Photos by Tina Tallon
San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre has long occupied a special place in the folklore of our city. Its three Balboa Park stages have hosted an internationally recognized caliber of theatre professionals for some 80 years, providing stellar performances for a core of theatre lovers. However, it’s no secret that communities of color have not been part of the Old Globe’s regular viewing audience. All that is changing now with the vision and leadership of Freedome Bradley-Ballentine, the Old Globe’s Director of Arts Engagement, a new position created at the theatre company with the express purpose of attracting diverse and multicultural audiences into its creative orbit.
An enthusiastic gathering of black professionals welcomed Bradley-Ballentine to the city and his new position, one Thursday evening this month, at an elegant dinner at the University Club Atop Symphony Towers. Organized by Michael Taylor, president of NWB Environmental Services, the evening provided an opportunity for some of the movers and shakers in the black community to learn from Bradley-Ballentine of the Old Globe’s commitment to move in innovative ways to bring the excitement of theatre to long-neglected segments of the San Diego community.
The anticipation was palpable as Bradley-Ballentine shared his passion for theatre and his desire to forge new and deeper bonds with all the constituencies the Globe serves—and aspires to serve—in the region. His warmth and authenticity was evident as he circulated with guests, listening and sharing his vision.
“We’re looking to make theatre matter to more people,” he shared. “My job is to provide access into institutions for people who did not have access before; to connect the community with the organization and the organization with the community.” Working closely with the Globe’s artistic director Barry Edelstein, who, as a fellow New Yorker, knew of Bradley-Ballentine’s grassroots work as Director of Theatrical Programs for the City Parks Foundation in New York, and recruited the artist/activist to extend a welcome to all parts of the San Diego community, the two have formed a team to expand the Globe’s outreach efforts. One such endeavor, initiated last year, is a series of programs that sends Shakespeare out to senior centers, homeless shelters, community centers, libraries, church basements, refugee centers, and correctional facilities, trying to find constituents in all these communities that weren’t being seen at Balboa Park. “We said, ‘Okay, if it’s difficult for you to come to us, we’re going to go to you.’ Theatre is such a beautiful field,” Bradley-Ballentine continued, “Such a beautiful way to tell stories and to communicate culture and history and all the things that are rich in our lives.”
Artistic director Edelstein, who introduced Bradley-Ballentine at the podium, recalled one of his first meetings with the arts pioneer. “I could not believe this extraordinary guy—tall, handsome, smart, funny, charismatic.” Bradley-Ballentine was working for a New York nonprofit that brought arts programs into parks across the city’s 5 boroughs. Edelstein, at that time was working with the Public Theatre in New York and was looking for ways to bring Shakespeare to underserved members of the community. They spent an extraordinary day together, Edelstein smiles, with Bradley-Ballentine, in a rickety Parks Department van, serving as tour guide through neighborhoods the director had never seen despite being a longtime New Yorker. Years later, when the time came for Edelstein, now artistic director of the Old Globe, to find an individual to helm the ship in the newly created role of Director of Arts Engagement, he remembered “this guy with the funny name who was forceful, visionary and just the right personality to go out to all the communities, not just the fantastic legacy community of the older white folks who have been the core audiences through the years, but also all the communities of color throughout San Diego who weren’t included.” In the four to five months he has been here, says Edelstein, “his impact has been so deep, so profound. Everywhere he goes he dazzles people, but more important, he has such a passion for the idea that theatre matters and that everybody should be a part of it.”
With entertainment by spoken word artist Gill Sotu, cellist Judith Hamann, and vocalist Cedrise accompanied on guitar by Brandon Cerquedo, guests mingled and networked in an intimate and warm setting. Members of the Black Chamber of Commerce, including Chairman of the Board Bruce Mayberry, President Jerry Robinson, business management consultant Roxanne Petteway, and Stephanie Bulger, who serves on the Old Globe Board of Directors, were among the notables who shared ideas and offered support as new vistas for arts engagement is becoming a reality.
This was something that needed to happen, says Taylor, and quite a bit was accomplished at the dinner. On one 
level, he said, the event was simply “a way to give this brother some support and let him know we are behind him as he takes on an immense task.” Beyond this, however, Taylor sees the evening as a prelude to other events, including a workshop to flesh out ideas and new approaches for arts engagement. “He is reaching out and the community is reaching back. This is a two-way process.” Taylor was especially pleased that Barry Edelstein was among the dinner guests. “It was important that he stood up and shared the Old Globe’s interest in reaching out to our community, that the typical audience on any given theatre night doesn’t fully represent the San Diego population, that they are aware of this void and working to change it.”
