Folger Theatre Announces Lineup for Fifth Annual Reading Room Festival
The Folger Shakespeare Library announced a star lineup of playwrights-Lauren M. Gunderson, Naomi Iizuka, Drew Petersen, and Octavio Solis-for the fifth annual Reading Room Festival. This multi-day festival of staged readings, panel discussions, workshops, and community celebrations produced by Folger Theatre runs from Thursday, January 28, through Saturday, January 30, 2027.
"The Reading Room Festival is the perfect opportunity to see new plays from excellent playwrights and directors brought to life by extraordinary actors," said Beth Emelson, Interim Head of Artistic Programs and Director of Producing. "And it is a fun and relaxed vibe that makes all of the spaces of the Folger-from the Theatre to the Reading Room to the Great Hall-an inspiring place to see a performance and gather with people who also love theater and Shakespeare."
This year's festival features staged readings and discussions of four new works. One of the most popular playwrights in the United States, Lauren M. Gunderson (Folger Theatre's A Room in the Castle), returns to the Folger with her Much Ado About Nothing-inspired rom-com Lady Disdain, co-directed by Gunderson and Nadia Guevara (Reading Room Festival's staged reading of Cymbeline: A Telenovela Melodramatic Western). Award-winning playwright and educator Naomi Iizuka's modern verse translation of Shakespeare's history play Richard II, originally commissioned for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Play On Shakespeare project, will be directed by Timothy Douglas (Folger Theatre's As You Like It). Drew Petersen, who received the TYA/USA Artistic Innovation Award for his work in Theatre for Young Audiences, will present The Stowaway, a play for all ages that draws its themes from several of Shakespeare's works. Lastly, Edward III has been in the news as scholars have recently concluded the early modern history play may have been authored by William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe; acclaimed playwright and director Octavio Solis' adaptation of Edward III for Play On Shakespeare, and director Kate Pitt, will offer audiences a timely examination into Shakespeare's collaborations and lesser-known works.
In addition to staged readings, the weekend's lineup of events includes a panel discussion with the featured playwrights, a free family workshop on creating puppets, and the annual "Shakespeare as a Starting Point" discussion, featuring Folger Institute Director Dr. Patricia Akhimie, curator of the landmark Folger exhibition To Hear Her Speak: Black Women and Shakespeare, examining how Shakespeare offers an opportunity to explore questions of representation and the historical record. The weekend also includes a celebratory party in the Great Hall for select guests and all-access passholders.
Works presented at the Reading Room Festival are each at different points of their creative journey. The Folger is excited to support the development of these plays before they are staged or restaged at theaters across the country. Recent successes of the festival include Jacob Ming-Trent's How Shakespeare Saved My Life, co-commissioned by Folger Theatre and Red Bull Theater and co-produced last season by Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Folger Theatre, and Red Bull Theater at The Public; Al Letson's Julius X: A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare; and Gunderson's A Room in the Castle, co-produced with Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.
Reading Room Festival All-Access Passes provide admission to all readings and events. They are now available for purchase at folger.edu/readingroom or by contacting the Folger box office at (202) 544-7077. Early-bird passes are $100 through December 31; passes purchased beginning January 1 are $125. Tickets for individual events will go on sale in early January.