• Still Dreaming: Shakespeare with Seniors

    Imagine a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed by a group of retired singers, actors, dancers, and musicians at an assisted living facility and nursing home. That's the story of Still Dreaming, a documentary filmed in 2011 and the subject of a new Shakespeare Unlimited podcast episode.

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  • Yassine El Mansouri Photography

    Form and Function: The Genius of the Book

    Dive deep into one of the world's greatest technologies—the book—in the Folger's new exhibition. Open through Sep 23.

    Visit Curator's Insights

  • Shakespeare’s Theater

    Learn about the playhouses of Shakespeare’s time, from audience experiences to actors, costumes, and staging.

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  • David Reeve

    Inside the Reading Rooms

    Scholars from all over the world come to the Folger reading rooms to use our Shakespeare and early modern collections. Free guided tours for visitors are available on Saturdays and Sundays.

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  • New Fellowship

    The Folger Institute is excited to announce a fellowship as part of Before 'Farm to Table': Early Modern Foodways and Cultures. Each fellow will be awarded $10,000 for work in the Folger collections on topics related to early modern food and foodways in the British world.

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INSIDE THE PLAYS

Shakespeare’s Patriotic Empathy

Austin Tichenor of the Reduced Shakespeare Company writes about Shakespeare’s history plays, the political considerations of his day, and patriotic portrayals centuries later.

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EARLY MODERN CULTURE

Memento Mori

The rich tradition of “memento mori,” a Latin phrase meaning “remember to die,” permeated European culture through the Middle Ages; the late 16th century saw this tradition popularly expressed in rings and other jewelry.

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THEATER HISTORY

The Lost Plays Database

The Lost Plays Database has found a new home at the Folger. This open-access forum contains information about lost plays from England between 1570 and 1642, such as Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Won.

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FROM THE DIRECTOR

Shakespeare is our middle name. We are stewards of a precious resource of world heritage and culture—a living tradition that offers something truly elevating.
Michael Witmore
Folger Shakespeare Library Director
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  • Become a 2018/19 Theatre Subscriber

    A season featuring characters that shook their worlds and demonstrate how theater has the power to shake our own. Join us and see the world anew: a smash comedy from the UK, a rarely seen Shakespeare history play, and a delicious Shakespeare comedy. Subscribers receive discounted tickets to Macbeth, a co-production with Folger Consort.

    Subscribe

  • 2018/19 Season of Folger Consort

    A five-course musical banquet brimming with early music of England, Germany, Spain, and Italy, plus a Restoration-era Macbeth opens the season with enchanting music from the 17th-century stage. Subscribe to all five concerts - and save.

    Learn About the Season

  • Macbeth: on stage Sept. 4-23

    Shakespeare's murderous tragedy is seen anew in Davenant's Restoration-era adaptation, which delighted audiences for nearly a century after its first performance in 1664. Featuring Ian Merrill Peakes and Kate Eastwood Norris as the bloody couple, with music performed by Folger Consort.

    Tickets & Information

  • Won't You Celebrate With Me?: Sept. 17

    The O.B. Hardison Poetry Series opens its 50th season with a reading by award-winning poets Linda Pastan, Marilyn Chin, and Ellen Bass. Wine reception and book-signing to follow the reading on Monday, September 17 at 7:30pm.

    Tickets & Information

Upcoming at the Folger

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Photo by Lloyd Wolf

Folger Education

Classroom Resources for Teaching Shakespeare

Folger Education works alongside teachers to develop engaging, effective tools for helping students have successful classroom encounters with Shakespeare and other complex texts.

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