Folger Theatre Group

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The Folger Shakespeare Library was granted a public theater permit in April 1970[1], following which the Elizabethan Theatre was transformed into a functioning playhouse, a change that included fireproofing its waxed-oak walls. Folger Director O. B. Hardison founded the Folger Theatre Group (FTG) with Richmond Crinkley, the group's first Artistic Director. Their goal was to produce classical, modern, and new plays while exploring "innovative stagings adapted to the particular limitations of the Elizabethan Theatre."[2] The company was initially composed "mainly of drama students from universities in the Washington, D.C., area" and complemented by some experienced actors who had worked with the Arena Stage and the Washington Theatre Club.[3]

The FTG mounted its first production at nearby Saint Mark's Church—the rock musical Dionysus Wants You!, adapted from Euripides' The Bacchae—in late August 1970.[4] Conceived by Crinkley, the production drew the attention of the well-known director Joseph Papp, who picked up the show and took it to New York. Later that season, a production of Twelfth Night (the group’s first Shakespeare production) was reviewed approvingly by the New York Times.

The FTG was dissolved in early 1985. That November, the group reincorporated as The Shakespeare Theatre at the Folger, an independent entity. With support from the library, the company remained at the Folger six more years before moving to larger quarters in downtown Washington, D.C. and changing its name to the Shakespeare Theatre. Under the Folger's education and public programs director Janet Griffin, the Elizabethan Theatre continued to offer a mix of concerts, plays, and lectures. In the mid-1990s, this led to a new theater initiative, the Folger Theatre.

Artistic Directors

The Folger Theatre Group had 3 Artistic Directors:

  • Richmond Crinkley (September 1969-1973)
  • Louis W. Scheeder (September 1973-October 1981)
  • John Neville-Andrews (November 1981-1985-86 Season)

1980s Productions

  • Much Ado About Nothing (1984-85 Season)
  • Crossed Words (1984-85 Season)
  • Hamlet (1984-85 Season)
  • King Lear (1984-85 Season)
  • Henry V (1983-84 Season)
  • The Mayor of Zalamea (1983-84 Season)
  • The School for Scandal (1983-84 Season)
  • Cinderella, A British Panto (1983-84 Season)
  • Troilus & Cressida (1983-84 Season)
  • Wind in the Willows (1983-84 Season)
  • All's Well That Ends Well (with special guests Celeste Holm and Charlton Heston; May 1, 1983)
  • Marriage a la Mode (1982-83 Season)
  • A Medieval Christmas Pageant (1982-83 Season)
  • She Stoops to Conquer (1982-83 Season)
  • The Merchant of Venice (1982-83 Season)
  • The Rover (1981-82 Season)
  • The Comedy of Errors (1981-82 Season)
  • The Tempest (1981-82 Season)
  • Playaround Shakespeare (Macey Center, New Mexico; 1981-82 Season)
  • Julius Caesar (1981-82 Season)
  • Love's Labour's Lost (1980-81 Season)
  • Museum (1980-81 Season)
  • Romeo and Juliet (1980-81 Season)
  • Crossing Niagara (1980-81 Season)
  • The Rivals (1980-81 Season)
  • Measure for Measure (1980-81 Season)
  • How I got that Story (1980-81 Season)

1970s Productions

  • Macbeth (1979-80 Season)
  • Charlie and Algernon (1979-80 Season)
  • Custer (1979-80 Season)
  • Twelfth Night or What You Will (1979-80 Season)
  • The Taming of the Shrew (1979-80 Season)
  • Love Letters on Blue Paper (1979-80 Season)
  • Wild Oats (1979-80 Season)
  • As You Like It (1978-79 Season)
  • Benefit of a Doubt (1978-79 Season)
  • The Tragedy of King Richard II (1978-79 Season)
  • The Merry Wives of Windsor (1978-79 Season)
  • Whose Life is it Anyway (1978-79 Season)
  • Richard III (1977-78 Season)
  • Mackerel (1977-78 Season)
  • Hamlet (1977-78 Season)
  • The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1977-78 Season)
  • Teeth 'n' Smiles (1977-78 Season)
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream (1976-77 Season)
  • Black Elk Speaks (1976-77 Season)
  • Mummer's End (1976-77 Season)
  • Much Ado About Nothing (1976-77 Season)
  • The Fool: Scenes of Bread and Love (1976-77 Season)
  • All's Well That Ends Well (1975-76 Season)
  • Henry V (1975-76 Season)
  • Medal of Honor Rag (1975-76 Season)
  • The Comedy of Errors (1975-76 Season)
  • The Collected works of Billy the Kid (1975-76 Season)
  • The Tempest (1974-75 Season)
  • He's Got a Jones (1974-75 Season)
  • Henry IV, part 1 (1974-75 Season)
  • The Farm (1974-75 Season)
  • Love's Labour's Lost (1973-74 Season)
  • The Inspector General (1973-74 Season)
  • Edward G., Like the Film Star (1973-74 Season)
  • Creeps (1973-74 Season)
  • Bartholomew Fair (1972-73 Season)
  • The Winter's Tale (1972-73 Season)
  • The Complete Works of Studs Edsel (1972-73 Season)
  • Total Eclipse (1972-73 Season)
  • Romeo and Juliet (1971-72 Season)
  • Subject to Fits (1971-72 Season)
  • The Revenger's Tragedy (1971-72 Season)
  • Landscape and Silence (1971-72 Season)
  • The Promise (1970-71 Season)
  • Twelfth Night (1970-71 Season)
  • Happy Days (1970-71 Season)
  • Natural and Unnatural Acts (1970-71 Season)
  • Dionysus Wants You! (performed at St. Mark's Church, 1970-71 Season)

Notes

  1. ↑ Stephen H. Grant, Collecting Shakespeare: The Story of Henry and Emily Folger (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014), 194-195.
  2. ↑ Shakespeare Companies and Festivals: An International Guide, edited by Ron Engle, Felecia Hardison Londré, and Daniel J. Watermeier (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995), 109.
  3. ↑ Shakespeare Companies and Festivals: An International Guide, edited by Ron Engle, Felecia Hardison Londré, and Daniel J. Watermeier (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995), 109.
  4. ↑ Shakespeare Companies and Festivals: An International Guide, edited by Ron Engle, Felecia Hardison Londré, and Daniel J. Watermeier (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995), 109.