What's on
There’s something for everyone. From theater and music, to poetry and exhibitions, experience the power of the arts with us.
Upcoming events
Join us for in-person and virtual events; theater, poetry, music, and more.
Folger Salon with Alex Baines, Rob Clines, and Anandi Rao
Folger Salon with Alex Baines, Rob Clines, and Anandi Rao
Learn about research happening at the Folger in real time! Each month, Folger Institute scholar and artist fellows will share their most exciting finds and thought-provoking challenges, followed by casual open conversation.
Thu, Feb 20, 2025 at 4:30pm
How to Be a Power Player: Tudor Edition
How to Be a Power Player: Tudor Edition
Social climbing was a competitive sport in Tudor England, requiring a complex range of skills, strategies, and techniques. This exhibition explores what it takes to become an early modern mover and shaker.
Opens Fri, Feb 21, 2025
Folger Friday: Black Arts Fest
Folger Friday: Black Arts Fest
Join us for an evening of cabaret style performances and music in the beautiful Folger Reading Room featuring DC artists and entertainers. Free; registration requested.
Fri, Feb 21, 2025, 7pm
Shakespeare Exhibition
Our Shakespeare Exhibition
See the Folger First Folios, learn more about Shakespeare and his plays, and explore the complexities of his cultural legacy.
Ongoing
Disability Poetics with Camisha Jones and torrin a. greathouse
Disability Poetics with Camisha Jones and torrin a. greathouse
Folger Poetry continues its exploration of 'Whose Democracy?' with readings by poets torrin a. greathouse and Camisha L. Jones whose present works probe the erasure of disabled voices.
Tue, Feb 25, 2025 at 7:30pm
Get Your Students into the Folger Collection!
Get Your Students into the Folger Collection!
In this professional development session from Folger Education, teachers can learn how to make primary sources and rare materials come alive in the classroom with the Folger Method.
Wed, Feb 26, 2025, 8pm
Cocktails and Conversation with Luis Carazo
Cocktails and Conversation with Luis Carazo
Engage your imagination and take a walk along the hero’s path with Luis Carazo! Learn about the world of role-playing games, its place within the broader spectrum of storytelling, and its impact as a community and empathy building tool.
Thu, Feb 27, 2025 at 7pm
Mixology: Game Night
Mixology: Game Night
Join special guest Luis Carazo and our neighbors at Labyrinth Games and Puzzles for a truly unique evening of RPG, board games, and, of course, cocktails. Tickets will be available on Feb 6.
Fri, Feb 28, 2025 at 6pm
Not Just Another Day Off 2025
Not Just Another Day Off
Each year, the Folger celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday with poetry readings by contemporary poets and actors. This year’s virtual, on-demand program includes "Declaration" by Tracy K. Smith, "Lift Every Voice and Sing," and Dr. King’s speech "Where Do We Go From Here?”.
Through Fri, Feb 28, 2025
Exhibition halls
Exhibitions
Explore our world-class collection and enjoy interactive experiences created for visitors of all ages and stages.
- Our Shakespeare Exhibition Hall is devoted to the works of William Shakespeare then and there, here and now — including for the first time a display of all 82 copies of the Folger’s First Folios; and
- In our Stuart and Mimi Rose Rare Book and Manuscript Exhibition Hall, you’ll discover exhibits of significant collection items that inspire the Folger’s work, deep dives into our vault, and special exhibitions.
Current and upcoming exhibitions
Shakespeare Exhibition
Our Shakespeare Exhibition
See the Folger First Folios, learn more about Shakespeare and his plays, and explore the complexities of his cultural legacy.
Ongoing
Out of the Vault: Into the Heart of the Folger
Out of the Vault
Encounter remarkable books and manuscripts that connect with the multifaceted work of the Folger in this ongoing exhibition.
Ongoing
How to Be a Power Player: Tudor Edition
How to Be a Power Player: Tudor Edition
Social climbing was a competitive sport in Tudor England, requiring a complex range of skills, strategies, and techniques. This exhibition explores what it takes to become an early modern mover and shaker.
Opens Fri, Feb 21, 2025
Family Programs
Family Workshop: The Art of the Shakespearean Power Player
Family Workshop: The Art of the Shakespearean Power Player
Dive into themes from our temporary exhibition, “How to Be A Power Player: Tudor Edition,” and connect them to Shakespeare’s words. Choose from two free workshops for ages 5-7 and ages 8-11.
Sat, Mar 22, 2025 at 11:30am & 1pm
DIY at the Folger: Miniatures
DIY at the Folger: Miniatures
Make your own self-portrait, fit for the Tudor court! This free activity is inspired by the miniatures on display in the temporary exhibition, “How to Be a Power Player: Tudor Edition."
Wed, Apr 23, 2025, 11:30am
Family Workshop: A Power Player Spectacle
Family Workshop: A Power Player Spectacle
Join the Folger as we use our how-to guide to power playing and the words of Shakespeare to create our own spectacular production! Choose from two free workshops for ages 5-7 and ages 8-11.
Sat, May 3, 2025 at 11:30am & 1pm
DIY at the Folger: The Tudor Ruff
DIY at the Folger: The Tudor Ruff
Create and model the fashionable accessory that is the ruff! Join us for this free activity inspired by our temporary exhibition, “How to Be a Power Player: Tudor Edition."
Wed, Jun 18, 2025, 11:30am
Folger Theatre 2024-2025 Season
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
A Room in the Castle
A Room in the Castle
This retelling of Hamlet from the perspective of the women of the story offers up what it’s like to be on the other end of a wild prince’s antics while delivering a message of defiant hope.
Tue, Mar 4 – Sun, Apr 6, 2025
Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night
A playful interpretation of a beloved Shakespeare comedy that brings gender fluidity, mistaken identities, and what it means to move between worlds into a joyful discovery of love.
Tue, May 13 – Sun, Jun 22, 2025
Folger Consort 2024-2025 Season
Join us for our final concert of the season.
Kings and Commonwealth
Kings and Commonwealth
The Folger Consort will perform political ballads of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot, along with instrumental music from the royal courts of James I and Charles I reflecting the political and religious upheavals in early 17th-century England.
Fri, May 2 – Sun, May 4, 2025
Save the date: Folger Gala
Folger Gala 2025
Folger Gala
The 2025 Folger Gala is taking its inspiration from Shakespeare in America and a uniquely American art form: jazz. Join us for a night of great music and entertainment that highlights the vibrant artistic movement that was the Harlem Renaissance.
Sat, Apr 26, 2025, 6pm
O.B. Hardison Poetry 2024-2025 Season
Join us for these remaining readings.
Disability Poetics with Camisha Jones and torrin a. greathouse
Disability Poetics with Camisha Jones and torrin a. greathouse
Folger Poetry continues its exploration of 'Whose Democracy?' with readings by poets torrin a. greathouse and Camisha L. Jones whose present works probe the erasure of disabled voices.
Tue, Feb 25, 2025 at 7:30pm
2025 Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize with Paul Muldoon and Julia Thacker
2025 Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize with Paul Muldoon and Julia Thacker
The O.B. Hardison Poetry Series and co-sponsor The Waywiser Press celebrate the 19th winner of the Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize with this year’s prize judge, acclaimed Irish poet, critic, playwright, and translator Paul Muldoon, who will read with the winning poet.
Tue, Mar 11, 2025 at 7:30pm
The O.B. Hardison Poetry Series Finale Reading Ellen Bass
The O.B. Hardison Poetry Series Finale Reading Ellen Bass
Ellen Bass, chosen by a group of Folger Poetry supporters, will read from the work of other poets cited as a literary influence, as well as from her own work. A moderated conversation will follow the reading, with a bookselling and signing at the post-reading reception.
Tue, Apr 8, 2025 at 7:30pm
Ticket information
Contact the Folger Box Office at (202) 544-7077 or folgerboxoffice@folger.edu.
