• Doug Gates

    Thinking Shakespeare

    How do actors breathe life into Shakespeare’s texts? How do they take language that’s centuries old and make it sound so real and immediate? Barry Edelstein, artistic director at The Old Globe in San Diego, pulls back the curtain on the rehearsal room.

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  • Before Farm to Table

    The Folger Shakespeare Library has been awarded a four-year, $1.5 million grant by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support a collaborative research project, Before Farm to Table: Early Modern Foodways and Cultures.

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  • Music from the Age of Shakespeare

    Folger Consort’s Robert Eisenstein highlights notable composers from early 17th-century England in these program notes for An English Garden, Sep 22-24.

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  • Shakespeare's Paper Trail

    Administrative documents from Shakespeare’s lifetime, such as this deed, provide important details of his economic and social status. Explore family, legal, and property records on Shakespeare Documented.

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  • Yassine El Mansouri Photography

    Painting Shakespeare

    Discover the paintings collection at the Folger—its stories, its glories, and Shakespeare’s power to inspire visual artists. On view now.

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EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHT

An American Folk Art King Lear

This painting by George Francis depicts David Garrick as King Lear in the storm, as Painting Shakespeare curator Erin Blake explains.

Watch Video About the Exhibition

FROM THE BLOGS

Elizabethan Runway

Renaissance fashion was unquestionably distinctive, especially among the upper class, who favored clothing with luxurious fabrics and dramatic silhouettes.

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FOLGER FELLOWS

Beaver Hats and Tobacco Pipes

How were New World voyages shaping society in Shakespeare's England? One of the Folger’s short-term fellows, Misha Ewen, shares her research.

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FROM THE DIRECTOR

Our collections, spanning history from the Renaissance onward, and our educational and public programs support the value of pluralism and an open society in which all people contribute and all are treated with respect.
Michael Witmore
Folger Shakespeare Library Director
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  • Subscribe to our 2017/18 season

    Join us for a season of power, passion, and politics—and receive all the benefits that come with being a Folger Theatre subscriber. Our 2017/18 season includes Antony and Cleopatra, Theresa Rebeck's new comedy The Way of the World, The Winter's Tale, and a special engagement of Bedlam's acclaimed production of Saint Joan.

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  • Subscribe to Folger Consort's 2017/18 season

    Subscribe—and save on a season of five early music concerts in bloom. Click below to learn about the music featured in our 2017/18 season, early music seminars, subscriber discounts, and exciting guest artists who will be joining the award-winning Folger Consort.

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  • Antony and Cleopatra: on stage Oct 10

    History's greatest love story. Shakespeare's epic tale of of politics and power, love and jealousy is presented in-the-round providing greater intimacy to all of the action in Rome and in Egypt. Featuring Cody Nickell and Shirine Babb.

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  • Music From the Age of Shakespeare: Sep 22-24

    Popular ballads and art songs that were heard in Shakespeare's England are paired with instrumental pieces fit for nobles and groundlings alike in Folger Consort's first concert of the 2017/18 season.

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  • Poets Phillis Levin & John Burnside: Oct. 23

    The 49th season of the O.B. Hardison Poetry Series features the most prestigious poets from around the globe. The first reading of the 2017/18 season brings together Scottish poet John Burnside and Phillis Levin. Monday, October 23 at 7:30pm. Reception and signing to follow. 

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Upcoming at the Folger

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Professional development for teaching Shakespeare. Photo by James R. Brantley.

Teaching Shakespeare Institute

Professional Learning Days

Led by Folger staff or master teachers in the Folger National Teacher Corps, these professional development workshops for middle and high school teachers provide lively, hands-on practice for teaching Shakespeare with techniques that work with all kinds of students in all kinds of classrooms. 

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