BREWS AND BANTER Kicks Off Tonight at Folger

Earlier this season, Folger Theatre announced plans to expand programming towards young patrons with Brews and Banter, a new pre-show behind-the-scenes conversation about the plays being performed on the Folger stage. Patrons are encouraged to peek behind the curtain with Folger actors engage with the greatest literature in the world at the world's largest Shakespeare library.

Each discussion features an actor from the current Folger production and an intimate conversation about the Folger Theatre play. Beer and light fare is included, and discounted $30 tickets are available for Brews and Banter patrons to the theatre performance following the discussion, as well as on other selected dates.

The series kicked off with Julius Caesar and continues tonight, February 26 at 6:30pm with Mary Stuart, Shakespeare's searing political tragedy about murder and ambition in the Roman republic. The discussion will be led by Helen Hayes award-winning actor Kate Eastwood Norris (Mary in Mary Stuart) and the Folger's Kate Pitt.

Kate Eastwood Norris has appeared at the Folger Theatre as Kate in The Taming of the Shrew (Helen Hayes nom.), Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Helen Hayes Award), Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, and Olivia in Twelfth Night, as well as appearing in productions of Hamlet: Now I Am Alone, Hamlet, The Tempest, As You Like It, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, She Stoops to Conquer, The School for Scandal, and multiple productions with the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express including the title role in Richard III. Other theaters include Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Company Member, Helen Hayes nom. for Stupid F***ing Bird), Arena Stage, Round House Theatre, and many others.