Folger Theatre’s fourth annual Reading Room Festival returns with four days of staged readings, panel discussions, workshops, and community celebrations.
Alberto Bonilla shifts the setting of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline from a mythic Roman-occupied ancient Britain to the American Southwest, circa 1893, at the height of the American cowboy myth, a powder-keg of conflict between class and race: farmers against ranchers, frontier pioneers from the East vs. the Mexican and Indigenous populations.
This family-friendly adaptation of Lope de Vega’s Spanish Golden Age classic Fuente Ovejuna invites young audiences to imagine what solidarity looks like, with interactive elements such as audience participation, songs, and crafts to engage children while emphasizing themes of justice, unity, and resistance to tyranny.
Set in San Francisco’s Fillmore District during the 1960s, LEAR reimagines Shakespeare’s tragedy of loyalty, love, and madness as a modern parable about the erasure of a Black neighborhood.
Discover the Dark Lady, Shakespeare’s muse in his Sonnets, who has been hiding in plain sight for over 400 years. Alexa Babakhanian’s humorous, whimsical musical creates a dynamic score of beatboxing, hip hop, classical, and pop music to highlight the interplay between these two great dramatists and poets.
Explore upcoming events in our season for Folger Theatre, Folger Consort, and the O.B. Hardison Poetry Series. Plus, take advantage of discounted prices with flex passes and ticket packages.
Learn more about the visual politics of early colonial representation in this gallery talk with Dominick Porras as part of "Contemporary Art at the Folger," a rotating series that showcases the work of Folger Artist Fellows.
Virtual Folger Salon with Margherita Malerba and Hassana Moosa
Learn about research happening at the Folger in real time! Each month, Folger Institute scholar and artist fellows will share their most exciting finds and thought-provoking challenges, followed by casual open conversation.
“We Were Here” Film Screening and Discussion with filmmaker Fred Kuwornu
Join us for a matinee screening of the documentary We Were Here followed by a discussion with filmmaker and current Folger Artistic Research Fellow Fred Kuwornu.
Each year, the Folger celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday with a free and family-friendly event featuring contemporary poets reading historic speeches from Dr. King and others. Check back here in the weeks ahead for our 2026 lineup.
Imagining Shakespeare: Mythmaking and Storytelling in the Regency Era
Displayed together for the first time since 1805, 14 paintings from the influential Boydell Shakespeare Gallery in London will be on view at the Folger, offering visitors the chance to consider both the stories Shakespeare created and the stories that were created about him.
In this small solo exhibition, artist Dominick Porras pairs research with his own linguistic and cultural knowledge of the Coahuiltecan peoples to complicate ideas of contact, survival, and transformation.
Explore our world-class collection and enjoy interactive experiences created for visitors of all ages and stages.
Our Shakespeare Exhibition Hall is devoted to the works of William Shakespeare then and there, here and now — including for the first time a display of all 82 copies of the Folger’s First Folios; and
In our Stuart and Mimi Rose Rare Book and Manuscript Exhibition Hall, you’ll discover exhibits of significant collection items that inspire the Folger’s work, deep dives into our vault, and special exhibitions.
Join us in the Great Hall for a morning of crafting. Participants can choose to create their own mini-protest sign or a fashionable sheep headdress—or both!
Attendees will use words and phrases from Shakespeare’s plays to create a personal monologue about who they are, with a chance to proudly perform it for everyone to hear.
Use your artistic skills to create a performance-inspired artwork that will be displayed in our Rose Exhibition Hall, alongside paintings depicting famous Shakespearean scenes.
Introducing Shakespeare: Minimal Context, Maximum Content
This professional development session for teachers focuses on strategies to help students enter Shakespeare’s plays through action, choice, and shared meaning-making from the very first moments of a unit.
