How Shakespeare Saved My Life at Folger Shakespeare Library

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.