Folger Theatre Brings More Than 60 Artists to the Fourth Annual Reading Room Festival and Announces Full Lineup of Talks, Workshops, and Celebrations

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Jan 12, 2026, 10:00 ET

Single tickets for all events are now on sale and all-access passes still available

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Folger Theatre announces the complete lineup of events included in the fourth annual Reading Room Festival, a public celebration exploring how Shakespeare's works are adapted, translated, and reimagined for the stage today. The Reading Room Festival will take place January 22–25, 2026, at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

"The talks, workshops and panels will explore the depths of translation, the musicality of Shakespeare and the richness of adaptation that flows from it," shared Karen Ann Daniels, Director of Artistic Programs. "We've learned in the first three years how much our audiences like to step into the practices of creativity themselves. So, we're doing just that—but with music too!"

This year's lineup of fully staged readings leans into how music pairs naturally with Shakespeare and includes new works and adaptations by Alexa Babakhanian, Alberto Bonilla, Barbara Fuchs, and Marcus Gardley. Each staged reading boasts casts featuring many DC actors, and every reading will also be accompanied by post-show conversations led by critics and scholars.

Additional programming includes hands-on creative workshops, gallery talks in the Folger's exhibition halls, panel discussions with artistic leaders, and special events where the public, artists, and scholars can all gather.

Other highlights of the Reading Room Festival 2026 include:

Shakespeare as a Starting Point: The free opening night discussion, a collaboration with Signature Theatre, will examine how composers, playwrights, and adaptors of the American musical have drawn inspiration from Shakespeare. DC theater artists will perform and discuss selections from Play On!, Kiss Me Kate, West Side Story, and other Shakespeare-inspired musicals.
Programming for Young People: The Reading Room Festival will host a family-friendly reading of Lope de Vega's Fuente Ovejuna, adapted by Barbara Fuchs. The reading will be preceded by a free hands-on crafting workshop for the audience to make props to be used in the play.
Seven Ages of Music: A Community Workshop: Participants are invited to contribute to the co-creation of an original new song inspired by Jaques' "Seven Ages of Man" speech from Shakespeare's As You Like It. This playful and participatory exploration of music making will be led by actor and musician John Sygar.

The Reading Room Festival 2026 will welcome more than 40 actors and musicians from the Washington, DC community to perform in these four staged readings. In addition, several members of the yearlong Folger Institute workshop, "Shakespeare and Black Performing Women," will be participating in this year's festival as panel moderators. This workshop of theater makers and scholars is convened by Karen Ann Daniels and Patricia Akhimie, Director of the Folger Institute and author of Shakespeare and the Cultivation of Difference: Race and Conduct in the Early Modern World. Visit the Reading Room Festival page to see all participants.

Single tickets for staged readings, panels, talks, and workshops are on sale for $20 each, and free student rush tickets are available 30 minutes before each reading with a valid student ID. Tickets for Fuente Ovejuna are $20 per adult and free for children under 12 (children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult); the crafting workshop beforehand is free for all. There are still a limited number of All-Access Passes available for $125, which include tickets to all four staged readings, invitations to the parties throughout the weekend, and access to the workshops and conversations. The full lineup of events is detailed in the schedule below. Reading Room Festival All-Access Passes and tickets for individual staged readings are available at www.folger.edu/readingroom or by contacting the Folger box office at (202) 544-7077.

Interested members of the press are invited to request tickets for readings and events by January 16 via email at [email protected]. The press kit is available at: www.folger.edu/readingroom-presskit/.

Folger Theatre wishes to thank Premiere Season Sponsors Dr. Bill and Evelyn Braithwaite, Season Sponsors Andrea "Andi" Kasarsky, Helen and David Kenney, and Scott and Liz Vance, Production Sponsors Nancy and Steve Howard, Contributing Sponsors Celia and Keith Arnaud, Artist Sponsors Karl K. and Carrol Benner Kindel, with special thanks to Share Fund.

About Folger Shakespeare Library

The Folger Shakespeare Library makes Shakespeare's stories and the world in which he lived accessible. Anchored by the world's largest Shakespeare collection, the Folger is a cultural organization where curiosity and creativity are embraced, and conversation is always encouraged. Visitors to the Folger can choose how they want to experience the arts and humanities, from interactive exhibitions to captivating performances, and from path-breaking research to transformative educational programming. The Folger welcomes everyone to connect in their own way—from communities throughout Washington, DC, to communities across the globe. Learn more at www.folger.edu.

The award-winning Folger Theatre in our nation's capital bridges the arts and humanities through transformational performances and programming that speak inclusively to the human experience. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels, Folger Theatre continues its legacy through exciting interpretations and adaptations of Shakespeare and expands the classical canon through cultivating today's artists and commissioning new work that is in dialogue with the concerns and issues of our time. Folger Theatre thrives both on its historical stage and in the community, engaging audiences wherever they happen to be. For more on Folger Theatre, please visit www.folger.edu/theatre.

Reading Room Festival 2026

Folger Theatre's Reading Room Festival returns for the fourth year, with staged readings, panel discussions, workshops, and community celebrations. Uniting artists, scholars, and audiences in a celebration of creative community, the festival explores interpretations that illuminate the multifaceted nature of Shakespeare's stories.

DAY 1: Thursday, January 22

7:30pm

SHAKESPEARE AS A STARTING POINT: Shakespeare and the American Musical

Folger Theatre Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels and Signature Theatre's Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner lead a lively discussion around Shakespeare's impact on American musical theater. Exploring the different ways composers have been inspired by Shakespeare's works, with specific emphasis on Stephen Sondheim, this talk will be accompanied by live performances of selections from Play On!, Kiss Me Kate, West Side Story, and more. Signature's Director of Artistic Development Anika Chapin joins the conversation as well.

DAY 2: Friday, January 23

6:45pm	Gallery Talk: "Making Myths: The Legacies of William Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth, and American Actors"
	Guided by Folger Associate Director of Exhibitions Operations Nicole Bryner, visitors will explore the exhibition halls to learn about the ways contemporary portraiture of Queen Elizabeth perpetuated a self-cultivated myth of the monarch, the ways Shakespeare's life was mythologized in the Regency era, and the ways American Shakespearean actors created mythic selves to leave their own mark on theatrical history. Myths will be busted!
8pm	Staged Reading: *Cymbeline: A Telenovela Melodramatic Western*
	Original Concept and Idea by Alberto Bonilla Music composed by Anthony De Angelis Adaptation of Shakespeare's text of Cymbeline by Alec H. Wild Spanish adaptation of text by Alberto Bonilla Original Spanish translation of Cymbeline by D. Eudaldo Viver (1884) Directed by Nadia Guevara
	Alberto Bonilla shifts the setting of Shakespeare's Cymbeline from a mythic Roman-occupied ancient Britain to the American Southwest, circa 1893, at the height of the American cowboy myth, a powder-keg of conflict between class and race: farmers against ranchers, frontier pioneers from the East vs. the Mexican and Indigenous populations. The wounds of the American Civil War are still fresh, and the country is trying to unite with the expansion of the railroad connecting East and West. Focusing on the core family conflicts in Shakespeare's late romance, this bilingual adaptation features high-stakes drama, gritty fights, and intimate moments—all the twists and turns associated with both Latin American melodramas and Shakespearean tragicomedies.
	After the performance, Rafael Ulloa, Deputy Publisher of Tiempo Company, will lead a conversation with members of the creative team and cast.

DAY 3: Saturday, January 24

10:30am	*Fuente Ovejuna* Hands-On Craft
	Join us in the Great Hall for a morning of crafting. Participants can choose to create their own mini-protest sign or a fashionable sheep headdress—or both!
	Afterwards, bring your creation to the Reading Room at 11:30am for the world premiere of Fuente Ovejuna by Lope de Vega, adapted by Barbara Fuchs and directed by Kelsey Mesa. This family-friendly adaptation invites young audiences to imagine what solidarity looks like, with interactive elements such as audience participation and songs.
	This workshop is free for all participants.
11:30am	Staged Reading: *Fuente Ovejuna* by Barbara Fuchs
	By Lope de Vega Adapted by Barbara Fuchs Directed by Kelsey Mesa World Premiere
	In the little town of Fuente Ovejuna life rolls merrily along, with sheep to tend and weddings to plan. But when the Comendador, the town's governor, decides that everything belongs to him, life is turned upside down. What to do? How to resist? This family-friendly adaptation of Lope de Vega's Spanish Golden Age classic Fuente Ovejuna invites young audiences to imagine what solidarity looks like, with interactive elements such as audience participation, songs, and crafts to engage children while emphasizing themes of justice, unity, and resistance to tyranny.

2pm	Discussion: Diversifying the Classics
	Join Diversifying the Classics founder and director Barbara Fuchs and founding member Laura Muñoz, for a conversation about the project's mission to uplift early modern Spanish-language drama, related dramaturgical work, and adaptation initiative Golden Tongues. This conversation will be moderated by director Kelsey Mesa.
	Since 2014, Diversifying the Classics has sought to foster awareness and appreciation of Hispanic classical theater in Los Angeles and beyond, expanding the canon to include the heritage of US Latino communities. Its multiple initiatives include original translations, performances, K-12 classroom education, and a database of scholars prepared to guide theater professionals approaching new and underrepresented texts.

8pm	Staged Reading: *LEAR*
	Translation/adaptation/remix by Marcus Gardley Directed by Hana S. Sharif Original text by William Shakespeare Commission by Play On Shakespeare
	Set in San Francisco's Fillmore District during the 1960s, LEAR reimagines Shakespeare's tragedy of loyalty, love, and madness as a modern parable about the erasure of a Black neighborhood. Once a thriving center of Black art, music, and culture, the Fillmore becomes the site for a King Lear adaptation about an aging real estate mogul, his three daughters, and the threat of urban renewal. This modern-verse translation by Obie Award–winning playwright Marcus Gardley offers a poetic reckoning with history, progress, and patriarchy.
	After the reading, award-winning theater artist, novelist and educator Ifa Bayeza will lead a conversation with members of the creative team and cast.
10:30pm	Reception: Lear's Libations
	Following the performance of LEAR, All- Access Pass holders and festival artists gather for food music and drinks.

DAY 4: Sunday, January 25

11:30am	Community Workshop: Seven Ages of Music
	Explore the connections between verse and musical rhythm in this participatory, all-ages workshop. Using the famous "Seven Ages of Man" speech from Shakespeare's As You Like It, actor and musician John Sygar will lead participants in learning the basic structure of iambic beats in Shakespeare's text, engaging in a musical conversation, and co-creating a unique and improvised composition.
1:30pm	Conversation: The Two Shakespeares: Myth and Mortal
	Folger Director Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper and Folger Theatre Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels sit down to discuss how Shakespeare is perceived today. Why are so many people compelled by the "authorship" question? How did a working playwright become a mythological genius? And how can we play with perceptions around him and his works to create new meaning?
3pm	Staged Reading: Dark Lady: A Musical Theater Work
	Book, Lyrics, and Music by Alexa Babakhanian Directed by Rebecca Martínez
	What would happen if it were discovered that Amelia Bassano, a Venetian Jew and the first woman poet published in England, was the real author of Shakespeare's plays? And what if this literary secret was revealed by Elizabethan characters existing in a modern-day alternate reality? Discover the Dark Lady, Shakespeare's muse in his Sonnets, who has been hiding in plain sight for over 400 years. Alexa Babakhanian's humorous, whimsical musical creates a dynamic score of beatboxing, hip hop, classical, and pop music to highlight the interplay between these two great dramatists and poets.
	After the reading, current Folger Long-Term Public Humanities Fellow JaMeeka Holloway, who is an award-winning director, producer, and cultural strategist based in Durham, North Carolina, will lead a conversation with members of the creative team and cast.
5pm:	*Exit, Pursued by a Beer*
	The artists and guests say a final farewell to the festival with a traditional toast on the stage.