Play on: The Folger's 2010/11 performance season wraps up in June with "Cyrano." Three productions are on tap for next season: "Othello," "The Gaming Table" and "The Taming of the Shrew." (Mr. T in DC via Flickr)
Located in one of the great neighborhoods in the city, nay, country, the Folger Shakespeare Library helps apartment renters in Capitol Hill stay entertained and cultured at the same time.
Now, to those of you out there who may be a little confused, the Folger Shakespeare Library is in fact a research library but also doubles as a playhouse. In fact, if I had to guess, that’s probably what it’s better known for: the Folger Theatre and its productions.
With Shakespeare’s birthday only a month or so behind us (most sources accept April 23), we figured it was as good a time as any to take a second look at the Bard and all he means to Western Civilization. Really, whether you enjoy his plays and poetry isn’t the point; it’s the impact he’s had on the West – and the rest of the world – that speaks of his genius.
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The Folger Shakespeare Library is home to the world’s largest and finest collection of Shakespeare materials, along with other major collections of rare Renaissance works of art, manuscripts and books. It began life in 1932 as a gift to the nation from Henry Clay Folger and his wife, Emily Jordan Folger.
Administered by a Board of Governors from Amherst College (Henry Folger’s alma mater), the Folger’s public programs include plays, literary readings, concerts, exhibitions and family activities. There are also programs dedicated to students, from kindergarteners all the way to collegians (and their teachers).
The Folger Shakespeare Library contains more than 256,000 books, 60,000 manuscripts, 250,000 playbills, 200 oil paintings, 50,000 drawings, water colors, prints and photographs, and lots of other Shakespeare-related paraphernalia. Use of the collection’s Reading Room is only open to scholars and researchers. If you want to become a “reader,” you’ll need to fill out an application.
For the rest of us, the Folger provides free exhibitions, a helpful website and a variety of print publications. They also house a Digital Image Collection for you to use.
Getting back to what I was saying before, most people probably know the Folger best as a place to come and see Shakespearean and other classic plays. Currently, Edmond Rostand’s “Cyrano” will be running until June 12, with tickets priced from $30 to $60.
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But there’s even more going on here. The Folger hosts lectures, exhibitions and poetry readings (including a recent reading by former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass), and even special events like the 31st Annual PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Ceremony, where for $100 you get to hear readings from 2011 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winner Deborah Eisenberg and other finalists.
Here’s a list of upcoming events at the Folger Shakespeare Library.
Located close to several Metro stations, the Folger is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
