Blondell Circles Globe with Shakespeare

John Blondell, professor of theater arts at Westmont and director of Lit Moon Theatre Company, shares his experiences of staging classic works for contemporary audiences on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 5:30 p.m. at University Club, 1332 Santa Barbara St. No tickets are required; the limited seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please call (805) 565-6051. The free, public lecture, "Shakespeare Around the World," is part of Westmont Downtown: Conversations about Things that Matter, which is sponsored by the Westmont Foundation.

Blondell has directed Shakespeare plays in the United States, London (at the Globe Theatre), Albania and Macedonia and presented “Hamlet” in China in October. He has also organized and participated in international Shakespeare festivals.

"'Shakespeare Around the World'" develops perspectives relevant to what is surely the most novel aspect of my directing career — that is, how an American, English-speaking stage director, approaches the direction of a play by William Shakespeare in a language different from one that I speak," he says. "The talk provides principles, stories and insights about the nature of directing Shakespeare in another language, and thereby reveals some of the most salient aspects of Shakespeare's art."

Blondell received national recognition earlier this year for his work directing an innovative production of "Pirates of Penzance," which won three national awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.

The Westmont Foundation also sponsors the President's Breakfast to reach out and engage the larger Santa Barbara and Montecito communities. This year the breakfast features Doris Kearns Goodwin speaking about "Leadership Lessons from American Presidents" on March 6 at 7 a.m. in Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort. Tickets, which cost $125 each, go on sale Feb. 6.