Scenic Designer Tony Cisek has designed tens of shows at the Folger, including Mary Stuart, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, and Henry V. His assistant designer Paige Hathaway recently designed A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Read Paige’s insights into the design of District Merchants below and join us starting May 31! From Paige – “Tony Cisek’s design began with the period in which… Continue Reading »
Posts Tagged: folger

The District Merchants team continues to rehearse in preparation for their move to the theater next week. Check out photos from rehearsal below and join us for this world premiere production. Don’t forget, May 31 is Pay-What-You-Will night – tickets will be distributed at the theater starting at 5pm.

When the Reduced Shakespeare Company starts performances of William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged) at the Folger on April 21, it will not be their first outing on the Folger stage. The RSC has ten hilarious productions encompassing not only the abridged Shakespeare and Shakespeare’s long lost first play, but also comedy, sports, Christmas, Hollywood, the Bible,… Continue Reading »

Actor Louis Butelli is traveling the world in Gravedigger’s Tale as part of the First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare tour. Read an update from his travels below! Hello again from your intrepid Gravedigger, Louis Butelli! Activities for Folger Shakespeare Library’s WONDER OF WILL continue on apace, including our recent appearance at Florida International University in… Continue Reading »

Check out these beautifully illustrated quotes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream! You can find more images of quotes from Shakespeare’s plays on the Folger Pinterest page. A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Folger, now extended though March 13!

Author James Shapiro’s new book The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606 considers the period when the playwright wrote three of his greatest tragedies, King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra. Dr. Shapiro is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a member of the Folger Board of Governors. His previous micro-biography of… Continue Reading »

Queen Elizabeth has a long history of appearing on stage at the Folger. She was recently played by Holly Twyford in last season’s Mary Stuart, by Michael Learned in 2003’s Elizabeth the Queen, and by an un-credited baby doll in the last moments of Henry VIII in 2010. Shakespeare gives the infant queen an epic entrance in that… Continue Reading »

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is officially open! Did that last Monday, to a full house of totally engaged and laughing patrons. Opening nights are a funny thing. It used to be that I hoped for opening night to be the best show ever. Younger and foolish(er) that I was. But now, I realize the show will… Continue Reading »
Hello from your friend Louis Butelli. We’re having a blast running Schiller’s Mary Stuart at Folger Theatre. The audiences have been fantastic, the press has been enormously positive, and we hope you’ll join us before we close this production on March 8. While our story revolves around two historical Queens, Elizabeth I and Mary of… Continue Reading »
Next Tuesday, February 3rd, British poet-playwrights Simon Armitage and Peter Oswald will be at the Folger to celebrate their work in an evening of readings entitled “Drama and Verse.” Both poets are distinguished for their command of language and the chilling beauty of their story-telling. A love of heightened language and verse unites them. Oswald’s… Continue Reading »