Folger Theatre, operating out of house due to the ongoing multi-year $69 million dollar renovation of Shakespeare Library is scheduling its “On the Road” season in collaboration with local companies. A Midsummer Night’s Dream was to have been Folger Theatre’s first “On the Road” show, performed on an Elizabethan-styled outdoor stage within the majestic Great Hall of the National Building Museum. That production, originally scheduled for this summer, has now been moved to summer, 2021.
“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.”
Performance dates of Nathan the Wise at Theater J remain the same, with this production now beginning Folger’s upcoming season in February 2021.
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.
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
** 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
