BWW News: Folger Theatre Announces New Dates for The 2020/21 Season

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Folger Theatre is altering the programming schedule for its 2020/21 "On the Road" season of plays. In working to ensure the well-being and safety of patrons, Folger Theatre, along with its project partners the National Building Museum and the University of South Carolina, have made the decision to postpone the 2020 summer production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and the National Building Museum's Summer Block Party, featuring the Folger Shakespeare Playhouse, to Summer 2021.

The Playhouse and A Midsummer Night's Dream is a collaboration between the Folger Shakespeare Library, the National Building Museum and the University of South Carolina, where the production's director Robert Richmond (Folger's Nell Gwynn) is Professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance. An exciting Elizabethan-styled outdoor stage, developed at the University of South Carolina, will fill the majestic Great Hall of the National Building Museum.

"We look forward to presenting a beautiful Midsummer Night's Eve performance inside the National Building Museum, bringing the magic of live theater to the National Building Museum's already stunning building," says Folger Shakespeare Library Director Michael Witmore. "Because we want everyone to enjoy the daytime and evening programming, we have taken the decision with our partner to defer the Folger Shakespeare Playhouse until the summer of 2021."

"For years, Michael Witmore and I have been scheming about a partnership between our two organizations, conjuring up some brilliant ideas that simply weren't feasible," said Chase Rynd, Hon. ALSA, Executive Director of the National Building Museum. "But at last we landed on the Folger Shakespeare Playhouse, and we knew it had all the makings of a perfect match for our boards, our staff, and our audiences. The Playhouse has been postponed for now, but the partnership remains steadfast as ever."

Additionally, Round House Theatre and Folger Theatre are rescheduling the East Coast premiere of The Tempest, adapted and directed by Teller and Aaron Posner, to April 2021. Performance dates of Nathan the Wise at Theater J remain the same, with this production now beginning Folger's upcoming season in February 2021.

In adjusting the performance dates, Folger Theatre keeps its exciting, off-site 3-play season without cancellation-and all artists associated with the season's productions are retained.

Folger Theatre's Artistic Producer Janet Alexander Griffin says, "As so many others, we have been monitoring the situation very carefully. We are delighted to be able to extend later our work with our much valued collaborators to bring our complete season to wonderful stages-when we anticipate audiences will be ready to embrace live performance once again. Shakespeare's plays are full of hope and community, and we look forward to the time of a healthy reunion."

Folger Theatre's 2020/21 season of new partnerships and productions at prestigious venues across the D.C. region comes as the Folger Shakespeare Library embarks on a multi-year renovation project. The $69 million project, supported by The Wonder of Will: The Campaign for the Folger Shakespeare Library, is designed to expand public space, improve accessibility, and enhance the overall experience to all who visit the Folger.

FOLGER THEATRE'S 2020/21 SEASON

** REVISED SCHEDULE **

NATHAN THE WISE

February 17 - March 14, 2021

In association with Theater J

By Gotthold Ephraim Lessing | Adapted by Michael Bloom

Directed by Adam Immerwahr

THE TEMPEST

April 28 - June 6, 2021

in collaboration with Round House Theatre

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Teller and Aaron Posner

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

July 13 - August 29, 2021

at the National Building Museum

in association with the National Building Museum and the University of South Carolina

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Robert Richmond

Tickets & Information:

Folger Theatre subscriptions for the 2020/21 season are currently on sale.

Visit www.folger.edu/theatre for more information on subscription packages and scheduling, or call the Folger Box Office at (202) 544-7077.

Subscriptions begin at $130. Dates to purchase individual tickets for all productions will be announced soon.

Performances of Nathan the Wise will be performed at Theater J, located at 1529 16th Street, NW in Washington, DC 20036. The Tempest will be at Round House Theatre at 4545 East-West Highway in Bethesda, MD. Performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream will be held at the National Building Museum, located at 401 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001.

Please visit websites of performing venues for public transit information and driving directions.

About Folger Theatre and Folger Shakespeare Library:

The Folger Shakespeare Library, opened in 1932, featured the first replica in North America of an Elizabethan theater, designed to suggest the inn-yard playing spaces. The first nationally televised broadcast of a Shakespeare play in the U.S. was Julius Caesar from the Folger stage in 1949. Director of Public Programs Janet Alexander Griffin established Folger Theatre in 1991 and has since, as Artistic Producer, produced nearly thirty seasons of Shakespeare, other plays from the period, and new works inspired by the period. Folger Theatre premiered the original Shakespeare for My Father, Lynn Redgrave's reminiscence of her theatrical family, as well as Roger Rees' What You Will; co-produced Teller and Aaron Posner's magical Macbeth, released on video; was the first Washington venue to present a production from Shakespeare's Globe from London; and has collaborated with the Classical Theatre of Harlem, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Guthrie, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Third Rail Projects, Bedlam, and other theater companies across the country. Folger Theatre has been honored by the Helen Hayes Awards with 30 awards and 158 nominations for excellence in acting, direction, design, and production.

Beginning this year, the Folger's historic building is undergoing a major renovation to expand public spaces, improve accessibility, and enhance the experience for all who visit. During this multi-year renovation, Folger programs and events will continue at other locations in Washington, DC, and around the country.

Folger Shakespeare Library is the world's largest Shakespeare collection, the ultimate resource for exploring Shakespeare and his world. The Folger welcomes millions of visitors online and in person. We provide unparalleled access to a huge array of resources, from original sources to modern interpretations. With the Folger, you can experience the power of performance, the wonder of exhibitions, and the excitement of pathbreaking research. We offer the opportunity to see and even work with early modern sources, driving discovery and transforming education for students of all ages. Join us online, on the road, or in Washington, DC. Learn more at www.folger.edu.

About The National Building Museum:

The National Building Museum inspires curiosity about the world we design and build. We believe that understanding the history and impact of architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, construction, and design is important for all ages. Through exhibitions and educational programs, we show how the built world has power to shape our lives, communities, and futures. Public inquiries: 202.272.2448 or visit www.nbm.org. Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

About Round House Theatre:

Round House Theatre is one of the leading professional theatres in the Washington, D.C. area, producing a season of new plays, modern classics, and musicals for more than 40,000 patrons each year at our theatre in Bethesda. Round House has been nominated for more than 183 Helen Hayes Awards and has won 37, including four Outstanding Resident Play Awards and the Charles MacArthur Award for Original New Play in 2016. Round House has also been honored for five consecutive years with the 50/50 Applause Award from the International Center for Women Playwrights.

Round House's lifelong learning and education programs serve more than 5,000 students each year at its Education Center in Silver Spring and in schools throughout Montgomery County. Cornerstone programs include Play It Forward, which provides free tickets for teens and college school students, the year-round Teen Performance Company, which culminates in the student-produced Sarah Metzger Memorial Play, Summer Camp for students in grades K-12, and a full slate of classes for Adults & Youth.

Round House is a member of LORT (League of Resident Theatres) and LOWT (League of Washington Theatres). The theatre is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization with major support from Montgomery County, the Maryland State Arts 5 Council (an agency funded by the State of Maryland and the National Endowment for the Arts), and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County.

About Theater J:

Theater J is a nationally renowned, professional theater located in Washington, DC that celebrates, explores, and struggles with the complexities and nuances of both the Jewish experience and the universal human condition. Our work illuminates and examines ethical questions of our time, inter-cultural experiences that parallel our own, and the changing landscape of Jewish identities. As the nation's largest and most prominent Jewish theater, we aim to preserve and expand a rich Jewish theatrical tradition and to create community and commonality through theater-going experiences.

Founded in 1990, Theater J has grown over the last three decades into "the most influential Jewish theater company in the nation," (The Washington Post) and "a respected cornerstone of the Washington theater scene" (Moment Magazine). By producing work from the Jewish theater canon, as well as non-Jewish plays that investigate stories about immigrants, language, assimilation, genocide, religion, and otherness, we are extending our community a heartfelt invitation to better understand what it means to be Jewish.

Guided by Jewish values and heritage, the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center engages individuals and families through its cultural, recreational, educational, and social justice programs by welcoming people of all backgrounds to connect, learn, serve and be entertained together in ways that reflect the unique role of the Center in the nation's capital.

Edlavitch DCJCC embraces inclusion in all its programs and activities. We welcome and encourage the participation of all people, regardless of their background, sexual orientation, abilities, or religion, including interfaith couples and families.

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