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Holiday Hours: The Folger is closing at 4:30pm on Dec 24 and Dec 31. We are closed all day on Dec 25 and Jan 1.

What we do /

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.

Leadership and mission

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels, Folger Theatre continues its legacy through exciting interpretations and adaptations of Shakespeare and expands 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 thrives both on its historical stage and in the community, engaging audiences wherever they happen to be.

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 158 nominations and 31 awards for excellence in acting, direction, design, and production.

Past productions

From earlier this season: 2024-2025

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

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
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
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

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.

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.