Booking and details
Dates Fri, Jul 11, 2025, 7:30pm
Venue Reading Room
Tickets $40 Members / $50 Non-members
Tickets available June 9, with advance access for Folger Members.
Join us for an evening of Cocktails and Conversation, hosted by Folger Director Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper. Leading American Shakespearean actor John Douglas Thompson and theater director and Shakespearean acting specialist Daniela Varon will speak on the solo performance piece they are co-creating as part of their Artistic Research Fellowships at the Folger.
This piece, with the working title Shakespeare in Sable—inspired in part by Errol Hill’s pioneering 1984 book of that name—interweaves the story of John’s unexpected and unconventional journey to becoming a classical actor with the history of Black Shakespearean actors, primarily in America and the United Kingdom, from the 19th and 20th centuries to the present day.
Tickets to this event are being offered in advance to Folger Members at a discounted price. Learn how you can become a Member today
Speakers
John Douglas Thompson
Broadway: King Lear, Becker in August Wilson’s Jitney (Tony nomination), Carousel, A Time To Kill, Cyrano de Bergerac, Julius Caesar. International: Othello, Henry IV, Royal Shakespeare Company; The Merchant of Venice, Royal Lyceum Theater. Off-Broadway: Endgame at Irish Rep (Obie Award); The Merchant of Venice at Theater For A New Audience; Hamlet (Obie and AUDELCO Awards), Julius Caesar, King Lear at Public Theater; The Iceman Cometh at BAM (Obie and Drama Desk Awards); Tamburlaine (Obie, Drama Desk and AUDELCO Awards), Macbeth (title role), Othello (Obie Award, Lucille Lortel Award, Joe A. Callaway Award), A Doll’s House, The Father, Oroonoko at TFANA; Satchmo At The Waldorf (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, NAACP Awards) at the Westside Theater; The Forest at Classic Stage Company; The Emperor Jones at Irish Rep (Joe A. Callaway Award and Lucille Lortel, Drama League and Drama Desk nominations); Hedda Gabler at New York Theatre Workshop.
Daniela Varon
Daniela Varon is a New York-based theater director and acting teacher. She is a long-time member of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA, where she has directed 17 productions to date. With Kristin Linklater and Carol Gilligan, she was co-founder and Associate Director of The Company of Women, which produced Shakespeare plays and outreach programs for women and girls. She was also co-producer, director and moderator of the series Conversations with Shakespeare, which played three seasons at Symphony Space.
Related
Q&A: John Douglas Thompson on playing Othello at the Royal Shakespeare Company
John Douglas Thompson, who is playing the title role in Othello in the Royal Shakespeare Company production, shares his insights about the character and the play.
About Folger Institute
The Folger Institute is a center for early modern research at the Folger Shakespeare Library that brings public audiences together with researchers to explore the cultures and legacies of the early modern world. Learn more.
You may also like
Timed-entry passes
Twelfth Night
How to Be a Power Player: Tudor Edition
Folger Salon with Maria Cannon, Amy Cooper, and Carrington OBrion
