Booking and details
Get TicketsDates Fri, Jun 12, 2026 at 6:30pm
Venue Founders' Room
Tickets $20 with discounts for Folger Members and Subscribers
Please note: Children under the age of 4 are not permitted.
How Shakespeare Saved My Life director Tony Taccone and choreographer Tiffany Rachelle Stewart share their creative perspectives on the production and its journey to the Folger stage in an insightful pre-performance discussion moderated by Folger Theatre General Manager Jeff Kirkman III.
About How Shakespeare Saved My Life
In How Shakespeare Saved My Life, 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 invites us to take a deep dive into the crevices of his youth. His search for home is relentless, and the results are by turns hilarious and tragic.
Calling on the Bard and a host of genius rappers, half-crazed preachers, and soulful poets to throw him a lifeline, he takes us on a propulsive ride that reaffirms the power of language and music. It all adds up to one man’s attempt to reclaim his youth, and through that journey we connect to the deeper parts of ourselves, and, ultimately, to each other.
Participants
Tony Taccone**
Tiffany Rachelle Stewart
Tiffany Rachelle Stewart (Choreography) Folger Theatre: debut. Choreography: Oregon Shakespeare Festival/The Old Globe: The Taming of the Shrew; Berkeley Repertory Theatre: How Shakespeare Saved My Life; Red Bull Theater: Medea Re-Versed; Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival: By the Queen; Oregon Shakespeare Festival: The Unfortunates. Acting: Broadway: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Off-Broadway: The Signature Theatre/American Repertory Theatre Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; Manhattan Theatre Club: Sugar In Our Wounds; The Public Theater: Pericles: Theatre for a New Audience: Julius Caesar; Cherry Lane: Vagina Monologues; Regional: Berkeley Repertory/Yale Repertory Theatres: The House That Will Not Stand: The Elley Theatre: The Winter’s Tale; Baltimore Center Stage/Milwaukee Repertory: Animal Farm: The Alliance: Vera Stark: Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Love’s Labour’s Lost & The African Company Presents Richard III; People’s Light: Mud Row by Dominique Morisseau (world premiere). Television/Film: Elsbeth, Law & Order, Law & Order SVU, Blacklist, Black Rose, Hotel Pennsylvania. Awards: Best Actress in a Drama, NYTVF “Black Rose”; Lucille Lortel for Best Revival (Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992); AUDELCO for Outstanding Ensemble (Sugar In Our Wounds). MFA in Acting, Yale School of Drama.
Henry V, Tupac, and the Power of Verse
Playwright and Broadway star Jacob Ming-Trent discusses How Shakespeare Saved My Life, part of the Folger Theatre 2025-2026 season.
People to Watch: Jacob Ming-Trent
In this American Theatre magazine interview, the versatile actor-writer talks about his solo show, How Shakespeare Saved My Life, on stage at Folger Theatre June 9 – July 5.
See the show
