If you can’t make it to the Folger Shakespeare Library in time to celebrate Will’s 453rd birthday tomorrow, you may miss out on the cake (they are actually serving cake!) but you should still make this museum a stop on your next visit to Washington, DC.
While Shakespeare is perhaps England’s most well-known writer, the Folger actually holds the largest collection of works by and related to the Bard anywhere in the world. Literally steps from the U.S. Supreme Court and the Capitol Building, the library is more than a stack of books. The small front gallery hosts temporary exhibits related to Renaissance history and literature, while the Founder’s Room—a recreation of an Elizabethan noble’s receiving room—has a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio on display.
Time your visit so you can take one of the free docent-led tours. These hour-long tours take bring the language of Tudor England to life (do you know where the term “chairman of the board” comes from?) and explore what we know, and what we don’t, about the playwright himself. Docents will also take you to a viewing area for a glimpse of the opulent reading room, share their favorite highlights in the temporary exhibit that is currently on display, and will wrap up in the Elizabethan theater. The 200-seat theater with dark, rich, carved wooden fixtures is modeled on the kinds of spaces Shakespeare’s works would have played during his time and is like catnip for theater and literature geeks like me.
Don’t forget to stop at the tiny, but surprisingly impressive, gift shop. Copies of the Bard’s works on video or the page share space with quirky play-themed objects like Lady Macbeth hand soaps for washing out those “damned spots.”
Location: 201 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM (with extended hours on Friday until 8:00 PM); Sunday noon-5:00 PM
Free Tours: Docent-led tours, Monday – Saturday, 11:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 3:00 PM; Sunday, noon and 3:00 PM. Reading room tours are Saturday at noon and require reservations.
Theater Box Office: (202) 544-7077; www.folger.edu/box-office