Folger Theatre

Since 1991, Folger Theatre has been a vibrant centerpiece of the Folger Shakespeare Library's public program and has staged more than half o the plays from Shakespeare's First Folio, along with contemporary work inspired by the tradition. Their intimate Elizabethan Theatre inspires imaginative productions as lively today as they were in Shakespeare's time. The company has been honored with the Helen Hayes Award for outstanding production of the year for Hamlet (2010), Measure for Measure (2007), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2005), and Romeo and Juliet (2001)and 13 awards for excellence in acting, direction, and design. They company has staged new plays, including world premiers of Rachel and Juliet and Shakespeare for My Father by Lynn Redgrave, What You Will by Roger Rees, Playing Juliet/Casting Othello by Caleen Sinnette, Melissa Arctic by Craig Wright, and new adaptations/translations of Orestes: A Tragic Romp by Anne Washburn and Cyrano by Michael Hollinger and Aaron Posner.

As part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, Folger Theatre will present Othello, along with their companion program, Folger Teaching Artists in the Schools. The company will serve ten Washington, DC-area middle- and high-schools. Activities will include in-school, pre-performance workshops, post-performance forum with cast, and continued classroom visits. Teaching artists will visit classrooms 15 times throughout the winter to prepare students to perform a 30-minute section of a Shakespeare play to perform at the Folger's 32nd Annual Secondary School Shakespeare Festival in March.