HOW SHAKESPEARE SAVED MY LIFE and More Set for Folger Theatre 2025-26 Season
The season will also feature Julius X: A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and more.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz May. 27, 2025
Folger Theatre has revealed its 2025-26 season at the Folger Shakespeare Library on Capitol Hill. Kicking off in September, the lineup of three powerful, joyful, and poignant plays will illustrate Shakespeare's resonance in our current moment, drawing on modern events and the landscape of Washington, DC.
"Our inspiration for next season comes from Shakespeare's three genres: tragedy, comedy, and history as means of examining what's called 'patterns of love,'" shares Director of Programming and Performance and Artistic Director of Folger Theatre Karen Ann Daniels. "These 'patterns of love'-love of power in Julius X, love of friendship and romance in As You Like It, and in Jacob Ming-Trent's work, his love of language in an invocation of healing-weave together a highly artistic, entertaining, and meaningful opportunity for audiences to share in the communal and timeless ritual of sharing live theater. Maybe they'll even fall in love with it!"
Julius X: A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, written by Al Letson (podcast host of Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting) and directed by Nicole Brewer (Folger Theatre's By the Queen at the Reading Room Festival), kicks off the theater season in September. Remixing Shakespeare's Julius Caesar with the history of Malcolm X, the play samples-lyrically and historically-from Shakespeare's text, famous speeches by Malcolm X, and Letson's own verse. Set in New York City in 1965, just days before the Civil Rights leader's assassination, the tragedy brings together ancient Roman and modern American histories through poetry and passion.
In Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels' Folger Theatre directing debut, Shakespeare's beloved romantic comedy As You Like It is served up with a distinctly DC flavor. Daniels, an accomplished actor, director, playwright, vocalist, and musician (Folger Theatre's Our Verse in Time to Come, The Ruby in Us at The Old Globe) co-adapts with Psalmayene 24 (Folger Theatre's Metamorphoses).
The season closes in the summer with How Shakespeare Saved My Life by Jacob Ming-Trent, co-produced by Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Folger Theatre, and Red Bull Theater, and co-commissioned by Folger Theatre and Red Bull Theater. Directed by Berkeley Repertory Theatre's former Artistic Director Tony Taccone (Kiss My Aztec) and starring Ming-Trent-a Broadway star (most recently, the revival of Gypsy); a noted Shakespearean actor at The Public Theater, Theatre for a New Audience, and Shakespeare in the Park; and television actor (White Famous, Ray Donovan, Watchmen, Feed the Beast)-How Shakespeare Saved My Life delivers an epic poem told through verse and music, drawing upon sources ranging from Shakespeare to hip-hop lyricists.
"The Folger's upcoming theater season demonstrates the myriad ways in which Shakespeare can be a profound commentator upon contemporary life," said Folger Director Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper. "The adaptations underscore the wondrous capacity Shakespeare has to speak urgently to us today. The entire season will invite audiences to consider the world around them from different perspectives. Meeting Shakespeare on their own terms is exactly what we want people to do when visiting the Folger."
The Reading Room Festival, where both Julius X and How Shakespeare Saved My Life were previously presented as staged readings, will return this winter, offering more opportunities to experience a series of readings of contemporary plays that respond to Shakespeare, creative workshops, and communal activities with playwrights, scholars, and theater makers. Daniels shares about the success of the Reading Room Festival, "Folger Theatre wants to play a vital role in continuing Shakespeare's legacy by developing and encouraging the Shakespeares of our own time. It's exciting to see two more plays in the season find their way to production from the Reading Room Festival."
Folger Theatre'S 2025-26 SEASON
Julius X
A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
by Al Letson
Directed by Nicole Brewer
September 23-October 26, 2025
"How many ages hence shall this our lofty scene be acted over in states unborn and accents yet unknown!"
Award-winning writer, journalist, and podcast host Al Letson harmonizes with Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in his retelling of the story, Julius X: A re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. Just as Shakespeare chronicled history to create a means of understanding the events of his day, Letson highlights and reflects on contemporary challenges by blending Shakespeare with the story of Civil Rights leader Malcolm X. Director Nicole Brewer explains, "Letson's poetry pulses with the rhythm of revolution, weaving Shakespearean drama into the raw urgency of the Civil Rights era." Julius X champions Shakespeare's original text and timeless tragedy, amplified with Letson's verse, to highlight the cyclical nature of societal strife and shared human experiences of ambition, betrayal, and brotherhood.
As You Like It
Co-adapted by Karen Ann Daniels and Psalmayene 24
Directed by Karen Ann Daniels
March 10-April 12, 2026
"What think you of falling in love?"
As You Like It, envisioned by Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels-in her Folger Theatre directorial debut-and co-adapted with Psalmayene 24 (Folger Theatre's Metamorphoses), is one of the most beloved Shakespearean comedies. The "love-shaked" Rosalind and her cousin Celia are forced to leave the court where they find respite and adventure in nature, inevitably succumbing to the madness of love and delightfully unpredictable circumstances. This production offers a love note to DC, imbuing the forest of Arden with the familiar vibes, culture, and characters that mark the District as a singular, resilient, and redemptive place of belonging.
How Shakespeare Saved My Life
Directed by Tony Taccone
Co-commissioned by Folger Theatre and Red Bull Theater
Co-produced by Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Folger Theatre, and Red Bull Theater
June 9-July 5, 2026
"America tried to take my life, and somehow a five-hundred-year-old white dude saved it."
How Shakespeare Saved My Life is an autobiographical-inspired theatrical work by playwright and Broadway performer Jacob Ming-Trent (Folger Theatre's A Midsummer Night's Dream) and directed by Tony Taccone (The Harder They Come). In this tour-de-force performance, Ming-Trent dares to rescue himself from the "slings and arrows" of his past. Born with a gift for poetry but rejected as unfit to play the part of the poet, Ming-Trent's search for home is relentless, and the results are by turns hilarious and tragic. Invoking a host of artistic geniuses such as Biggie, Tupac, Shakespeare, and Basquiat, Ming-Trent takes us on a propulsive ride that reaffirms the power of language and music. It all adds up to how one man's attempt to reclaim his life may connect to the deeper parts of ourselves and to each other. How Shakespeare Saved My Life is an epiphany that begins with Shakespeare but becomes a ritual of salvation and forgiveness that invites the audience to save themselves and each other.
Videos