Folger Theatre Announces Upcoming 2025-26 Season of Plays

Folger Theatre’s Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels makes her Folger directorial debut with Shakespeare’s beloved comedy As You Like it co-adapted with Psalmayene 24

Additional titles include Al Letson’s Julius X: A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare directed by Nicole Brewer and How Shakespeare Saved My Life by Broadway star Jacob Ming-Trent and directed by Tony Taccone

Folger Theatre today announced its 2025-26 season at the Folger Shakespeare Library on Capitol Hill. Kicking off in September, the lineup of three powerful, joyful, and poignant plays will illustrate Shakespeare’s resonance in our current moment, drawing on modern events and the landscape of Washington, DC.

“Our inspiration for next season comes from Shakespeare’s three genres: tragedy, comedy, and history as means of examining what’s called ‘patterns of love,’” shares Director of Programming and Performance and Artistic Director of Folger Theatre Karen Ann Daniels. “These ‘patterns of love’—love of power in Julius X, love of friendship and romance in As You Like It, and in Jacob Ming-Trent’s work, his love of language in an invocation of healing—weave together a highly artistic, entertaining, and meaningful opportunity for audiences to share in the communal and timeless ritual of sharing live theater. Maybe they’ll even fall in love with it!”

Julius X: A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, written by Al Letson (podcast host of Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting) and directed by Nicole Brewer (Folger Theatre’s By the Queen at the Reading Room Festival), kicks off the theater season in September. Remixing Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar with the history of Malcolm X, the play samples—lyrically and historically—from Shakespeare’s text, famous speeches by Malcolm X, and Letson’s own verse. Set in New York City in 1965, just days before the Civil Rights leader’s assassination, the tragedy brings together ancient Roman and modern American histories through poetry and passion.

In Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels’ Folger Theatre directing debut, Shakespeare’s beloved romantic comedy As You Like It is served up with a distinctly DC flavor. Daniels, an accomplished actor, director, playwright, vocalist, and musician (Folger Theatre’s Our Verse in Time to Come, The Ruby in Us at The Old Globe) co-adapts with Psalmayene 24 (Folger Theatre’s Metamorphoses).

The season closes in the summer with How Shakespeare Saved My Life by Jacob Ming-Trent, co-produced by Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Folger Theatre, and Red Bull Theater, and co-commissioned by Folger Theatre and Red Bull Theater. Directed by Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s former Artistic Director Tony Taccone (Kiss My Aztec) and starring Ming-Trent—a Broadway star (most recently, the revival of Gypsy); a noted Shakespearean actor at The Public Theater, Theatre for a New Audience, and Shakespeare in the Park; and television actor (White Famous, Ray Donovan, Watchmen, Feed the Beast)—How Shakespeare Saved My Life delivers an epic poem told through verse and music, drawing upon sources ranging from Shakespeare to hip-hop lyricists.

“The Folger’s upcoming theater season demonstrates the myriad ways in which Shakespeare can be a profound commentator upon contemporary life,” said Folger Director Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper. “The adaptations underscore the wondrous capacity Shakespeare has to speak urgently to us today. The entire season will invite audiences to consider the world around them from different perspectives. Meeting Shakespeare on their own terms is exactly what we want people to do when visiting the Folger.”

The Reading Room Festival, where both Julius X and How Shakespeare Saved My Life were previously presented as staged readings, will return this winter, offering more opportunities to experience a series of readings of contemporary plays that respond to Shakespeare, creative workshops, and communal activities with playwrights, scholars, and theater makers. Daniels shares about the success of the Reading Room Festival, “Folger Theatre wants to play a vital role in continuing Shakespeare’s legacy by developing and encouraging the Shakespeares of our own time. It’s exciting to see two more plays in the season find their way to production from the Reading Room Festival.”

Season subscriptions are on sale now, starting at only $150. Special rates for patrons under 35, students, seniors, members and family of the military, educators, and groups may be purchased through the Folger Theatre Box Office at (202) 544-7077 or at www.folger.edu/whats-on/. Single tickets will go on sale on July 29.

FOLGER THEATRE’S 2025-26 SEASON

Julius X  

A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

by Al Letson

Directed by Nicole Brewer

September 23–October 26, 2025

“How many ages hence shall this our lofty scene be acted over in states unborn and accents yet unknown!”

Award-winning writer, journalist, and podcast host Al Letson harmonizes with Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in his retelling of the story, Julius X: A re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. Just as Shakespeare chronicled history to create a means of understanding the events of his day, Letson highlights and reflects on contemporary challenges by blending Shakespeare with the story of Civil Rights leader Malcom X. Director Nicole Brewer explains, “Letson’s poetry pulses with the rhythm of revolution, weaving Shakespearean drama into the raw urgency of the Civil Rights era.” Julius X champions Shakespeare’s original text and timeless tragedy, amplified with Letson’s verse, to highlight the cyclical nature of societal strife and shared human experiences of ambition, betrayal, and brotherhood.

As You Like It 

by William Shakespeare

Co-adapted by Karen Ann Daniels and Psalmayene 24

Directed by Karen Ann Daniels

March 10–April 12, 2026 

“What think you of falling in love?”

As You Like It, envisioned by Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels—in her Folger Theatre directorial debut—and co-adapted with Psalmayene 24 (Folger Theatre’s Metamorphoses), is one of the most beloved Shakespearean comedies. The “love-shaked” Rosalind and her cousin Celia are forced to leave the court where they find respite and adventure in nature, inevitably succumbing to the madness of love and delightfully unpredictable circumstances. This production offers a love note to DC, imbuing the forest of Arden with the familiar vibes, culture, and characters that mark the District as a singular, resilient, and redemptive place of belonging.

How Shakespeare Saved My Life

by Jacob Ming-Trent 

Directed by Tony Taccone

Co-commissioned by Folger Theatre and Red Bull Theater

Co-produced by Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Folger Theatre, and Red Bull Theater

June 9–July 5, 2026 

“America tried to take my life, and somehow a five-hundred-year-old white dude saved it.”

How Shakespeare Saved My Life is an autobiographical-inspired theatrical work by playwright and Broadway performer  Jacob Ming-Trent (Folger Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and directed by Tony Taccone (The Harder They Come). In this tour-de-force performance, 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’s search for home is relentless, and the results are by turns hilarious and tragic. Invoking a host of artistic geniuses such as Biggie, Tupac, Shakespeare, and Basquiat, Ming-Trent takes us on a propulsive ride that reaffirms the power of language and music. It all adds up to how one man’s attempt to reclaim his life may connect to the deeper parts of ourselves and to each other. How Shakespeare Saved My Life is an epiphany that begins with Shakespeare but becomes a ritual of salvation and forgiveness that invites the audience to save themselves and each other.

About the Artists

Nicole Brewer is a multi-hyphenate DC-based theater maker and proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). She brings a bold, inclusive vision to her directing work, centering anti-racist practices to create transformative theatrical experiences. As a leading voice in Anti-Racist Theatre (ART), Nicole has spent years empowering artists and institutions to create more equitable and impactful storytelling. She shares her work through workshops, keynotes, and collaborations across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Nicole is on the faculty at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale and serves on the board of Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL), working to make the industry more inclusive for caregivers. A proud mother of three, she is deeply grateful for the community that supports her family so she can pursue her artistic journey. Her directing credits at the Folger include Julius X, The Reading Room 2023, and By the Queen, The Reading Room 2025. Additional credits include: The House That Will Not Stand at Howard University, The Winter’s Tale at Shakespeare Theatre’s Academy of Classical Acting and Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities at Baltimore Center Stage and Long Wharf Theatre, as well as readings, devised work, and musical theater. www.nicolembrewer.com.

Karen Ann Daniels is a multi-hyphenate artist: producer, singer, songwriter, actor, stage director, and playwright. In recent years, her creative work has focused on co-creation as a composer/lyricist/playwright for musicals like gather ‘round and The Ruby in Us, centering the lives and stories of community. She co-authored the Folger commissioned Our Verse in Time to Come with hip-hop artist and writer Malik Work. She is currently working on a new musical inspired by Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, called Beatrice. Daniels is Artistic Director of Folger Theatre and Director of Programming and Performance for the Folger Shakespeare Library. Prior to joining the Folger, she was director of the Mobile Unit at The Public Theater in NYC. She previously managed community partnerships, as well as created, piloted, and implemented cornerstone Arts Engagement programs such as Globe for All, Behind the Curtain, coLAB, Community Voices, and Reflecting Shakespeare for The Old Globe in San Diego. She is a thought-leader, facilitator, and contributing architect for creating tools to help cultural institutions integrate anti-racism, equity, accessibility, community and audience engagement, and shared leadership as a long-term mission-oriented strategy for organizational growth. Karen Ann is a native San Diegan.

Al Letson is a playwright, screenwriter, actor, and journalist. Letson hosts Reveal, from the Center for Investigative Reporting, an award-winning news program heard on over 500 NPR stations and over 1 million podcast downloads a month. As a journalist he’s been awarded three Peabodys and an Emmy.  His theater work has appeared Off-Broadway and on stages across the country. Letson has written for several television shows with various networks including AMC, APPLE TV, and HULU. He continues to write, develop, and tell new stories, for both broadcast and live audiences.

Jacob Ming-Trent: Folger Theatre: How Shakespeare Saved My Life (The Reading Room Festival 2024), A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Broadway: Gypsy revival, original cast, Shrek the Musical, original cast, Hands on a Hardbody, original cast. Off-Broadway: The Public Theater: The Harder They Come (Lucille Lortel Award nomination, AUDELCO nomination), Twelfth Night, Father Comes Home from the Wars (Lortel Award, AUDELCO nomination), Cymbeline, The Tempest; Shakespeare in the Park: Merry Wives (Drama Desk nomination); Classic Stage Company: Mother Courage; Red Bull Theater: Medea Re-Versed, The Alchemist, Mammon (Lortel nomination); Theatre for a New Audience: The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Epic Theater Ensemble: Widowers’ Houses; Lincoln Center Theater: On the Levee. Television: Showtime: White Famous (series regular), Ray Donovan (recurring); HBO: Watchmen (series regular); AMC: Feed the Beast (recurring); Only Murders in the Building; WU-TANG: An American Saga; New Amsterdam; God Friended Me; High Maintenance, and more.  Film: Superfly, Forty-Year-Old Version, Snakes, R+J, Possession of Hannah Grace, The Bygone, Julie Taymour’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer…, Friendship.

Psalmayene 24: Folger Theatre: Metamorphoses, Director (Helen Hayes Award nomination); The Reading Room Festival 2025, Panelist. Arena Stage: Tempestuous Elements (Director), Ruined (Actor), Cuttin’ Up (Actor), Anthems (Actor); Studio Theatre: The Colored Museum (Director), Good Bones (Director), Flow (Director), Pass Over (Director); Ford’s Theatre: Necessary Sacrifices: A Radio Play (Director); Mosaic Theater: Monumental Travesties (Playwright), Dear Mapel (Playwright/Actor), Les Deux Noirs (Playwright), Native Son (Director), Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence; Joe’s Movement Emporium: Out of the Vineyard (Playwright); Theater Alliance: The Blackest Battle (Playwright); Word Becomes Flesh (Director); Imagination Stage: The Freshest Snow Whyte (Playwright/Director), Cinderella: The Remix (Playwright/Director), P. Nokio: A Hip-Hop Musical (Playwright/Director), Zomo the Rabbit: A Hip-Hop Creation Myth (Playwright/Director); African Continuum Theatre Company: Free Jujube Brown! (Playwright/Actor). TV/Film: The Freewheelin’ Insurgents (Writer/Director/Actor); HBO’s The Wire (Actor). Helen Hayes and Imagination Award recipient.

Tony Taccone served as Artistic Director of Berkeley Rep for 22 years, during which time the theatre produced more than 70 world, American and West Coast premieres and sent 24 shows to New York, two to London and one to Hong Kong. Most recently he directed The Harder They Come by Suzan Lori-Parks and Kiss My Aztec, which he co-wrote with John Leguizamo. He has directed new work by Tony Kushner, Julia Cho, Lemony Snicket, Culture Clash, David Edgar, Danny Hoch, Sarah Jones, Carrie Fisher, and Itamar Moses. Two of his shows, Continental Divide and Tiny Kushner, transferred to London, and three have landed on Broadway: Bridge & Tunnel, Wishful Drinking, and Latin History for Morons. Prior to working at Berkeley Rep, Tony served as Artistic Director of Eureka Theatre, where he commissioned Tony Kushner’s legendary Angels in America and co-directed its world premiere. His regional credits include Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arena Stage, Center Theatre Group, the Guthrie Theater, the La Jolla Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and The Public Theater.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has grown from a storefront stage to an international leader in innovative theater. Known for its ambition, relevance, and excellence, as well as its adventurous audience, the nonprofit has provided a welcoming home for emerging and established artists since 1968. Over 6 million people have enjoyed more than 500 shows at Berkeley Rep, including 87 world premieres. Berkeley Rep shows have gone on to win eight Tony Awards, nine Obie Awards, 11 Drama Desk Awards, a Grammy Award, a Pulitzer Prize, and many other honors. In recognition of its place on the national stage, Berkeley Rep received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1997. Through its annual seven-play season, together with up to four special event presentations, Berkeley Rep invites audiences to enjoy an eclectic range of theatrical experiences featuring diverse artistic voices, themes, and perspectives. To formalize, enhance, and expand the processes by which Berkeley Rep makes theatre, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep’s Center for the Creation and Development of New Work was launched in 2012. Serving some 20,000 people a year, Berkeley Rep’s School of Theatre ensures broad access to dynamic arts educational activities, especially for Bay Area youth, and provides immersive training for current and future theatre makers. In 2021, Berkeley Rep launched In Dialogue, a program that places its theatre-making skills and resources in service of the community. Using storytelling as an anchor, In Dialogue is developing long-term collaborations with local, socially centered organizations, as well as educating and activating our audiences around organizations whose work aligns with the themes of our productions. Berkeley Rep’s bustling facilities—which include the 600-seat Roda Theatre, 400-seat Peet’s Theatre, Medak Center, and a spacious campus in West Berkeley—are helping revitalize a renowned city. Learn more at berkeleyrep.org. 

Red Bull Theater, hailed as “a dynamic producer of classic plays” by Ben Brantley in The New York Times, brings rarely seen classic plays to dynamic new life for contemporary audiences, uniting a respect for tradition with a modern sensibility. Named for the rowdy Jacobean playhouse that illegally performed plays in England during the years of Puritan rule, Red Bull Theater is New York City’s home for dynamic performances of great plays that stand the test of time. With the Jacobean plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries as its cornerstone, the company also produces new works that are in conversation with the classics. Since its debut in 2003, Red Bull Theater has produced 24 Off-Broadway productions and over 200 Revelation Readings of rarely seen classics, serving a community of more than 5,000 artists and providing quality artistic programming to an audience of over 65,000. The company’s unique programming has received ongoing critical acclaim and has been recognized with Lortel, Drama Desk, Drama League, Callaway, Off-Broadway Alliance, and OBIE nominations and Awards. For more information about any of Red Bull Theater’s programs, visit www.redbulltheater.com.

About Folger Shakespeare Library and Folger Theatre

The Folger Shakespeare Library makes Shakespeare’s stories and the world in which he lived accessible. Anchored by the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, the Folger is a cultural organization where curiosity and creativity are embraced, and conversation is always encouraged. Visitors to the Folger can choose how they want to experience the arts and humanities, from interactive exhibitions to captivating performances, and from path-breaking research to transformative educational programming. The Folger welcomes everyone to connect in their own way—from communities throughout Washington, DC, to communities across the globe. Learn more at www.folger.edu.

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. 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. For more on Folger Theatre, please visit www.folger.edu/theatre.