• Teresa Wood

    The Winter's Tale

    Shakespeare’s spellbinding tale of jealousy, prophecy, and redemption celebrates the magic of storytelling and the power of forgiveness. Pictured: Katie deBuys (Hermione), Aldo Billingslea (Polixenes), and Michael Tisdale (Leontes). Onstage Mar 13 - Apr 22

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  • Jennifer Masada

    Greg Prickman Named Folger Librarian

    Greg Prickman, head of Special Collections at the University of Iowa Libraries, has been named Eric Weinmann Librarian and Director of Collections at the Folger.

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  • Lear (Antony Sher) with Gloucester (David Troughton) in King Lear, 2016. Photo by Ellie Kurttz (c) RSC

    Antony Sher

    Antony Sher talks about playing Lear and the Fool—the only actor in the RSC’s history to play both, plus his Olivier Award-winning turns as Falstaff and Richard III. Listen on the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast.

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  • Yassine El Mansouri Photography

    Beyond Words

    See this illustration of lettuce from a 16th-century herbal and the woodblock used to print it in the Folger exhibition Beyond Words: Book Illustration in the Age of Shakespeare. Learn more about the history of the technology of printing. Feb 24 – Jun 3

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  • Chester Simpson

    Shakespeare's Birthday

    Celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday at our annual open house featuring stage combat demonstrations, Shakespeare and musical performances, birthday cake, and more. Sun, Apr 22, 12pm. Free.

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FROM THE BLOGS

Reconstructing the Globe

Replicas of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre have popped up around the world. Learn more about this trend and what’s driving it.

Read More Shakespeare's Theater

FOLGER FINDS

Pocket Herbals

This guide to the medicinal qualities of plants, published in a London in 1606, is filled with recipes for remedies and creative doodles. Katarzyna Lecky writes about this little book on The Collation.

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INSIDE THE PLAYS

A Problem of Geography in The Winter’s Tale

Dig into the source material for The Winter’s Tale, the world's first modern atlas, and some 1856 costume designs from the Folger collection.

Read More About The Winter's Tale

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Our collections, spanning history from the Renaissance onward, and our educational and public programs support the value of pluralism and an open society in which all people contribute and all are treated with respect.
Michael Witmore
Folger Shakespeare Library Director
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  • Shakespeare's romantic tale: Through Sunday only!

    Aaron Posner directs Shakespeare's spellbinding tale of jealousy, prophecy, redemption—and one pursuant bear—celebrating the magic of story-telling and the power of forgiveness. On stage through April 22 only.

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  • Shakespeare's Birthday: Open House on April 22

    Happy birthday, William Shakespeare! Join us for a day full of free performances, demonstrations, Elizabethan crafts, and much more, including birthday cake served by the Queen. Sunday, April 22 from 12-4pm.

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  • Music of the French Baroque: Apr. 27-29

    Folger Consort's final performances of the 2017/18 season feature cantatas by Monteclair and Rameau based on Ovid's Metamorphoses, along with delightful instrumental works by Telemann, Bach, and others. With acclaimed soprano Rosa Lamoreaux.

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  • Poet Carolyn Forché reads on April 30

    The award-winning poet, whose famed anthology, Against Forgetting, was praised by Nelson Mandela as "itself a blow against tyranny, against prejudice, against injustice" reads from her work on Monday, April 30 at 7:30pm. Reception and book-sgning will follow.

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  • Saint Joan: on stage May 12th

    Four actors. Twenty-five roles. Led by director Eric Tucker (Sense and Sensibility), Bedlam's riveting production of Shaw's classic play on the martyred heroine of France has been called "a rare and rich treat ... a production to be treasured" (The New York Times). Now extended through June 10!

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Upcoming at the Folger

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Become a Teacher Member today. This photo by James Brantley is from Teaching Shakespeare, 2014.

Folger Education

Teacher Membership

A Teacher Membership includes special access to the Folger's new online community for teachers, with hundreds of classroom-ready resources for teaching Shakespeare, as well as interviews with scholars, expert teachers, actors, and directors.

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