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About Folger Theatre

The award-winning Folger Theatre in our nation’s capital bridges the arts and humanities through transformational performances and programming that speak inclusively to the human experience.

On stage now

How Shakespeare Saved My Life

How Shakespeare Saved My Life

In this tour-de-force performance, Jacob Ming-Trent dares to rescue himself from the “slings and arrows” of his past. Born with a gift for poetry but rejected as unfit to play the part of the poet, Ming-Trent’s search for home is relentless, and the results are by turns hilarious and tragic.
Tue, Jun 9 – Sun, Jul 5, 2026
Dates & Tickets
Folger Theatre

What’s next: Our 2026-27 season

Season subscriptions are on sale now! Become a subscriber and enjoy the best seats at the best price. Join us as explore three of Shakespeare’s works in the playwright’s American home: Measure for Measure, Hamlet, and The Comedy of Errors.

Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure

Subscriptions are now on sale for Folger Theatre's 2026-27 season, which features three Shakespeare plays: Hamlet, Measure for Measure, and The Comedy of Errors.
Sep 22 – Nov 01, 2026
Learn More
Folger Theatre
Hamlet

Hamlet

Subscriptions are now on sale for Folger Theatre's 2026-27 season, which features three Shakespeare plays: Hamlet, Measure for Measure, and The Comedy of Errors.
Mar 02 – Apr 11, 2027
Learn More
Folger Theatre
The Comedy of Errors

The Comedy of Errors

Subscriptions are now on sale for Folger Theatre's 2026-27 season, which features three Shakespeare plays: Hamlet, Measure for Measure, and The Comedy of Errors.
May 18 – Jun 27, 2027
Learn More
Folger Theatre

Leadership and mission

The award-winning Folger Theatre in our nation’s capital bridges the arts and humanities through transformational performances and programming that speak inclusively to the human experience. Folger Theatre is committed to providing a dynamic space in which Shakespeare’s works come to life for audiences in the same innovative and communal way that they did during the time in which he lived, as well as expanding the classical canon through cultivating today’s artists and commissioning new work that is in dialogue with the concerns and issues of our time. Folger Theatre is led by Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels.

The Folger has emerged as a wonderfully receptive staging ground for innovative approaches to the classics.–The Washington Post

Awards

Folger Theatre has been the recipient of 167 nominations and 31 awards for excellence in acting, direction, design, and production.

Futaba (Feste) and cast, Twelfth Night, Folger Theatre, 2025. Photo by Erika Nizborski.

Most recently, Folger Theatre received two Helen Hayes Awards nominations for Twelfth Night: Outstanding Ensemble in a Play and Outstanding Costume Design.

The cast of Folger Theatre's Metamorphoses. Photo: Brittany Diliberto.

Folger Theatre received seven Helen Hayes Award nominations for Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses, including two wins for best director and best choreographer.

Past productions

From our 2025-2026 Folger Theatre Season

Julius X

Julius X

Award-winning writer, journalist, and podcast host Al Letson blends the drama of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar with the story of Civil Rights leader Malcolm X.
Tue, Sep 23 – Sun, Oct 26, 2025
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As You Like It

As You Like It

Rosalind and her cousin Celia are forced to leave the court where they find respite and adventure in nature, inevitably succumbing to the madness of love and delightfully unpredictable circumstances.
Tue, Mar 10 – Sun, Apr 19, 2026
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From our 2024-2025 Folger Theatre Season

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

In a violent world, two young people from warring families fall in love. How can they safeguard their future when the systems meant to protect them fail?
Tue, Oct 1 – Sun, Nov 10, 2024
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A Room in the Castle

A Room in the Castle

This retelling of Hamlet from the perspective of the women of the story offers up what it’s like to be on the other end of a wild prince’s antics while delivering a message of defiant hope.
Tue, Mar 4 – Sun, Apr 6, 2025
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Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night

Viola washes up on the shore after losing her twin brother in a shipwreck. In disguise as her twin brother, she lands in the world of Duke Orsino.
Tue, May 13 – Sun, Jun 22, 2025
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From our 2023-2024 Folger Theatre Season

The Winter's Tale
silhouettes of a man and a bear

The Winter's Tale

Shakespeare's astonishing romance is an exhilarating journey filled with emotional depth, extreme behavior, complex relationships—and a bear in pursuit.
Sun, Nov 5 – Sun, Dec 17, 2023
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Where We Belong

Where We Belong

In 2015, Mohegan theater-maker Madeline Sayet traveled to England to pursue a PhD in Shakespeare, where she found a country that refuses to acknowledge its ongoing role in colonialism.
Thu, Feb 15 – Sun, Mar 10, 2024
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Metamorphoses
Metamorphoses

Metamorphoses

Ovid’s classic stories of the loves, losses, and transformations of gods and mortals are reimagined for the 21st century in Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation.
Tue, May 7 – Sun, Jun 23, 2024
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Folger Theatre on Folgerpedia
theater stage macbeth

More past productions

Visit Folgerpedia for our full production archive.

The Reading Room Festival

The annual Reading Room Festival features staged readings, panel discussions, workshops, and community celebrations. This festival unites artists, critics, and scholars in a celebration of creative community, as they collaboratively explore the multifaceted nature of Shakespeare’s stories.

2026

2025

2024

2023

Tamieka Chavis, Chani Wereley, and Erika Rose performing A Room in the Castle at the 2023 Reading Room Festival. Photo by Peggy Ryan.
Culture and Values
People standing

Who we are

Learn more about our culture and values at the Folger.

Support Folger Theatre

Support Folger Theatre

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