Folger Shakespeare Library — Attraction in Washington

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."

If you're a fan of the Bard, the Folger Shakespeare Library and Theatre is the place to be. I studied Shakespeare in both high school and college, and I've always enjoyed reading his plays. So of course when Shakespeare's 400th birthday rolled around on Saturday and I heard that Folger was having a birthday celebration for him on Sunday, I knew I had to partake.

The Folger Shakespeare Library/Theatre is home to the world's largest Shakespeare collection and home to other major collections of Renaissance books, manuscripts, and artwork. Not only is Folger a dwelling for the preservation of rare books and manuscripts and a theatre for plays and readings, it is also a dedicated research library for advanced scholarly programs. There are about 160,000 printed books; 60,000 manuscripts; 90,000 prints, drawings, photographs, paintings, and other works of art housed in this building. Very extensive and world-renowned.

It is a gorgeous building both inside and out. Located just a block from the Capitol, the white marble neoclassical exterior is in perfect sync with the other nearby buildings. The gorgeous interior design evokes Tudor England, with oak paneling, ornate floor tiles, and high baroque ceilings.

My favorite rooms were the theatre and the Reading Room. The cozy theatre has three-tiered balconies, carved oak columns, and a canopy that resembles the sky. The perfect place for Folger Theatre productions, readings, concerts, and student performances. My absolute favorite, though, has to be the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room. When you walk in, you can't help but let out an audible gasp or "wow." The room, with its carved oak paneling and high ceilings, features tapestries, portraits, chandeliers, and Nicola d’Ascenzo’s famous, beautiful stained glass window of the “Seven Ages of Man." There's also a bust of Shakespeare based on the one that's at his grave in Stratford-upon-Avon. A couple of long tables sit in this room where scholars from around the world come and use Folger's collection. The Reading Room is limited to scholars and researchers, and it is only open to the public for Saturday tours and for their annual Shakespeare's Birthday Open House in April.

During Shakespeare's Birthday Open House, Folger arranges a day of activities for families. You can see the Reduced Shakespeare Company perform, tour the Reading Room, hear musical performances, perform a soliloquy on stage, check out swordfighting demos, and lots more.

You can tour the building and the grounds any day of the week. They offer free, docent-led tours Mondays to Saturdays at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm. On Sundays, they offer tours at...

It's okay to skip this one. Here's why:

There's technically no admission fee but they "recommend" a "donation" of $15 per person, which they guilt you about when you have to check in at the front desk before exploring. It's not worth $15pp, it's maybe worth $5pp, and there should just be a sign telling you that (it's on the website, too), I shouldn't have to listen to someone guilt me to donate to a museum that is supposed to be free. Further, I should be asked to donate on my way out, if I enjoyed myself - but then, I suspect few if any would give anything at all.

The exhibit itself is lackluster. There is not a lot of unique or novel information about Shakespeare available, and the entirety of the exhibit is like 3 small rooms. You can complete a visit in an hour or less - again, not worth $15pp. The best part of the whole thing is the rare book room, which has many books, none of which were Shakespeare, but still very cool to see first/original editions of manuscripts and books from as far back as 1500. That portion is the only thing worth paying for and it isn't worth $15. There was a docent/employee walking around explaining various things and she was the other best part - very knowledgeable, but she's working with what she's got, as far as the collection goes, and it isn't much.

The Quill & Crumb is an even worse rip off than your average DC establishment. They sell their wine for $19/glass, and it's a scant 5oz pour served in a plastic cup. The pastry we had wasn't good and the sandwich was tiny and still $15. These are like worse than airport prices. The Americano was good, but it's pretty hard to mess up a drink with only two ingredients, one of which being water.

If you're still curious, you should go and check it out, but not donate anything until you've completed your visit and have decided what that visit is worth. And, DEFINITELY don't waste your time at...

This is a gem and an amazing institution. I've been about 10 times since the reopening and have had a great time consistently. The front desk folks are extremely friendly and helpful, as are the docents and volunteers. They have an incredible selection of exhibits and today I saw the newest one on Tudor social climbing /power brokering - stellar! It's just so cool to see books from the 1500s/1600s with poems copied onto the pages, notes etc. I've seen several plays here as well, most recently the Romeo and Juliet production, and every show has been very well envisioned, creative and new while staying true to the original Shakespeare. I'm about to see A Room in the Castle and can't wait. I've also been to a few of the cultural/community events and am wowed by the attention to detail, thoughtfulness and genuinely good community feeling at these events.

One thing I really want to highlight is the Folger's inclusivity. It's always great to see gender neutral bathrooms. These are both single stall/single use and multi-stall. Moreover, the exhibits don't gloss over the issues of race, sexism and bias in Shakespeare's work but rather highlight work done by scholars of color and women scholars with knowledge about his work and the time period. In my experience, the staff are diverse, the actors they cast in their shows are unfailingly diverse, and I believe I recall them doing native land acknowledgements at shows. Not to end on a negative note, but all of these practices are exceptional in comparison to other spaces in DC.

Final note, the cafe is so beautiful and such a great atmosphere to hang out and read, study, chat etc. And it's all free!!!

Thank you all for providing us with this wonderful place and all it has...