Recommended Visit in DC: Folger Shakespeare Library

The Folger Shakespeare Library http://www.folger.edu/ is a unique DC institution. Located on Capitol Hill, it is home to the world’s largest and finest collection of Shakespeare materials and to major collections of other rare Renaissance books, manuscripts, and works of art.

Opened in 1932, the Folger was a gift to the American nation from Henry Clay Folger and his wife Emily Jordan Folger. It is administered by a Board of Governors under the auspices of Amherst College, Henry Folger’s alma mater. Whether you are a literary fan or history buff, this is a must-see stop while you're in the nation's capital!

As part of the Library, the 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. The intimate Elizabethan Theatre is the setting for Folger Theatre productions. With its three-tiered wooden balconies, carved oak columns, and half-timbered facade, the theater evokes the courtyard of an English Renaissance inn. Overhead, a canopy represents the sky. In Shakespeare’s day, such inns often served as playhouses for traveling groups of players, who performed on a raised platform at one end while spectators gathered in the yard and on the balconies above.

The Folger is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm, and admission is free. You can take Metro’s Orange or Blue Line to the Capitol South stop and walk 4 blocks, or take Metro’s Red Line to the Union Station stop and walk seven blocks to the Folger. The front entrance is on East Capitol Street between Second and Third Streets. For more directions by subway, bus and car, see http://www.folger.edu/Content/About-Us/Plan-a-Visit/Directions.cfm.