Booking and details
Dates Fri, Apr 24, 2026
Venue Folger Shakespeare Library
Tickets Starting at $1,000
Join us on Friday, April 24, for the annual Folger Gala—a celebratory evening to benefit the Folger and its many vital and creative programmatic offerings.
The 2026 gala is taking cues from the elegance and style of the Regency era. Creative performances and imaginative entertainment will punctuate an evening you simply won’t want to miss.
Questions? Please contact (202) 675-0302.
Gala Co-Chairs
J. May Liang and James Lintott
Susan Sachs Goldman
Gala Committee
Nora and D. Jarrett Arp
Mary Elizabeth Cisneros and Michael Rosenman
Florence and Neal Cohen
Debbie Driesman and Frank F. Islam
Susan Sachs Goldman
Ken Hitz
Prof. Jonathan Hope and Prof. Ayanna Thompson
Martin Keuhne
Dr. Dorothy Kosinski and Thomas Krähenbühl
Kimberlyn Rachael Leary
J. May Liang and James Lintott
Eugene Pinkard, Jr.
Paul Smith and Michael Dennis
Ramie Targoff and Stephen Greenblatt
Adjoa Andoh MBE
An actor, writer, and director with a career spanning 4 decades, Adjoa Andoh is best known for playing Lady Danbury in Bridgerton and in its prequel Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, for which she is a 4-time nominee at the NAACP Awards. She starred alongside Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon in Clint Eastwood’s Nelson Mandela biographical film Invictus. Her many television roles also include Nenneke in the Netflix blockbuster fantasy drama, The Witcher. On the stage, Andoh has had lead roles at the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Court Theatre, Young Vic, The Kiln, and in 2019, she conceived, co-directed and played the lead in Richard II at Shakespeare’s Globe in the UK’s first all women-of-color production.
Special guest
Adjoa Andoh MBE will be the special guest at the 2026 Folger Gala during her Director’s Residency at the Folger (April 19-25). While Andoh is most well-known among American audiences for her role as Lady Danbury in the Netflix TV show Bridgerton, she is also a highly regarded Shakespearean actor and director. The Folger has named Andoh as the inaugural resident in its new Director’s Residency program.
Gala Sponsors
Presenting Partner
J. May Liang and James Lintott
Benefactor
Nora and D. Jarrett Arp
Susan Sachs Goldman
Producer
Hitz Foundation
Martin Kuehne
Louisa Foulke Newlin
Innovator
Florence and Neal Cohen
Debbie Driesman and Frank F. Islam
Neil and Izette Folger
Jacqueline B. Mars
Gail Kern Paster
Shakespeare’s Globe USA
Prime
Mary Elizabeth Cisneros and Michael Rosenman
Emily and Michael Eig
Judy Pomeranz
Paul Smith and Michael Dennis
Major
Design Cuisine/Constellation Culinary Group
Ed and Patricia Leahy
Mrs. Melanie Franco Nussdorf
Stuart and Mimi Rose
Ramie Targoff and Stephen Greenblatt
Liz and Scott Vance
Friend
Celia and Keith Arnaud
Dr. Bill and Evelyn Braithwaite
Lou and Bonnie Cohen
C-SPAN: America’s Book Club
Maygene and Steve Daniels
Prof. Jonathan Hope and Prof. Ayanna Thompson
Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper and Mr. Angus G. Lamming
Ruth Taylor Kidd and Richard G. Kidd IV
Dr. Dorothy Kosinski and Thomas Krähenbühl
Nancy Peery Marriott Foundation
Amy and Marc Meadows
Terence R. Murphy, O.B.E. and Patricia Sherman Murphy
Taylor Strategies
Patron
Rebecca Bushnell
Nicky Cymrot
Stephen Kieran
Kimberlyn Rachael Leary
MTFA Design + Preservation
Eugene Pinkard
Ms. Ednajane Truax
Kathie and Mike Williams
Sponsorship levels and benefits
