Folger Theatre

Folger Theatre annually performs a three-play season of innovative productions designed to forge strong connections with modern audiences, continuing the lively legacy of Shakespearean stagecraft. While Shakespeare is central to its mission, the Theatre has produced a variety of other classical works, as well as new plays related to or inspired by Shakespeare.

About Folger Theatre

Since 1992, led by Artistic Producer Janet Alexander Griffin, Folger Theatre has staged more than half of the plays in Shakespeare’s First Folio.

Highlights from Folger Theatre’s producing history include these Helen Hayes Award nominees for outstanding resident play: The Taming of the Shrew (2013, recipient), Hamlet (2010, recipient), Henry VIII (2010), Arcadia (2009), Macbeth (2008), Measure for Measure (2007, recipient), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2006), Melissa Arctic (2006), She Stoops to Conquer (2002), Shakespeare’s R & J (2001), Much Ado About Nothing (1998), and Romeo and Juliet (1997).

For more information about the Folger Theatre's performance space, read our article on the Folger's Elizabethan Theatre.

Current season

The current Folger Theatre season has ended. Click here to order your tickets for the 2014-2015 season.

Upcoming season

2014-2015 Season

• King Lear (Shakespeare's Globe, 2014) September 5-21, 2014

• Julius Caesar (2014) October 28- December 7, 2014

• Mary Stuart (2015) January 27- March 8, 2015

• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (2015) May 12- June 21, 2015

Past seasons

2010s

• A Midsummer Night's Dream: In Concert (2014)

• Cymbeline (Fiasco Theatre, 2014)

• The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Fiasco Theater, 2014)

• Richard III (Folger Theatre, 2014)

• Romeo and Juliet (Folger Theatre, 2013)

• Robben Island Bible (Folger Theatre, 2013)

• Twelfth Night (Folger Theatre, 2013)

• Henry V (Folger Theatre, 2013)

• The Conference of the Birds (Folger Theatre, 2012)

• Hamlet (Shakespeare's Globe, 2012)

• The Taming of the Shrew (Folger Theatre, 2012)

• The Gaming Table (Folger Theatre, 2012)

• Othello (Folger Theatre, 2011)

• Cyrano (Folger Theatre, 2011)

• The Comedy of Errors (Folger Theatre, 2011)

• Henry VIII (Folger Theatre, 2010)

• Hamlet (Folger Theatre, 2010)

• Orestes, A Tragic Romp (Folger Theatre, 2010)

2000s

• Much Ado About Nothing (Folger Theatre, 2009)

• Arcadia (Folger Theatre, 2009)

• Rachel and Juliet: An Evening with Lynn Redgrave (Folger Theatre, 2009)

• The Winter's Tale (Folger Theatre, 2009)

• 1 Henry IV (Folger Theatre, 2008)

• The School for Scandal (Folger Theatre, 2008)

• Macbeth (Folger Theatre, 2008)

• As You Like It (Folger Theatre, 2007)

• The Tempest (Folger Theatre, 2007)

• What You Will: By and About the Bard (Folger Theatre, 2007)

• 365 Days / 365 Plays: Suzan-Lori Parks Project (2007) ? (Not linked on public page to a cast list, etc.)

• King Lear (Folger Theatre, 2007)

• A Midsummer Night's Dream (Folger Theatre, 2006)

• The Game of Love Chance (Folger Theatre, 2006)

• Measure for Measure (Folger Theatre, 2006)

• Much Ado About Nothing (Folger Theatre, 2005)

• The Clandestine Marriage (Folger Theatre, 2005)

• Romeo and Juliet (Folger Theatre, 2005)

• The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Folger Theatre, 2004)

• The Comedy of Errors (Folger Theatre, 2004)

• Melissa Arctic (Folger Theatre, 2004)

• All's Well That Ends Well (Folger Theatre, 2003)

• Elizabeth the Queen (Folger Theatre, 2003)

• Twelfth Night (Folger Theatre, 2003)

• Love's Labor's Lost (Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, 2002)

• Othello (Folger Theatre, 2002)

• She Stoops to Conquer (Folger Theatre, 2002)

• Macbeth (Folger Theatre, 2001)

• As You Like It (Folger Theatre, 2001)

• A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, 2001)

• The Tempest (Folger Theatre, 2000)

• Julius Caesar (Aquila Theater Company, 2000)

• Shakespeare's R & J (Folger Theatre, 2000)

1990s

• Hamlet (Folger Theatre, 1999)

• The Night of the Burning Pestle (Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, 1999)

• Macbeth (Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, 1999)

• The Dresser (Folger Theatre, 1999)

• Much Ado About Nothing (Folger Theatre, 1998)

• The Taming of the Shrew (Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, 1998)

• Richard III (Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, 1998)

• Measure for Measure (Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, 1998)

• Mad About the Bard (Folger Theatre, 1998)

• Casting Juliet/Playing Othello (Folger Theatre, 1998)

• Romeo and Juliet (Folger Theatre, 1997)

• Love's Labor's Lost (Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, 1997)

• Henry IV, Part I (Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, 1997)

• A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, 1997)

• Ordo Virtutum (1997)

• A Child's Christmas in Wales and Other Lands (Interact Theatre Company, 1996)

• As You Like It (Interact Theatre Company, 1996)

• Njinga the Queen King (Folger Theatre, 1996)

• Standup Shakespeare (Folger Theatre, 1995)

• The Merchant of Venice (Source Theatre Company, 1995)

• Private Lives (with the Interact Theatre Company, 1995)

• Richard III (with the Travelling Shakespeare Company, 1995)

• The Snow Queen (The Hudson Vagabond Puppets, 1994)

• The History of America (abridged) (the Reduced Shakespeare Company, 1994)

• Shakespearean Women: A Theatre Festival (Folger Theatre, 1994)

• Romeo and Juliet (Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, 1993)

• Antony and Cleopatra (Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, 1993)

• A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, 1993)

• Joyicity (Folger Theatre, 1993)

• Suppliant Women (with Stanford University, 1993)

• My Astonishing Self (Folger Theatre, 1993)

• A Midsummer Night's Dream (The Traveling Shakespeare Company, 1993)

• The Cure of Troy (with the SCENA Theatre, 1992)

• Reminiscences of the Redgrave Family on the Shakespearean Stage (Folger Shakespeare Library, 1991)