Washington D.C.'s Folger Shakespeare Library have announced their 1999-2000 season, which features Hamlet, Shakespeare's R&J, and Aquila Theatre's production of Julius Caesar. Productions will take place at The Folger Elizabethan Theatre at 201 East Capitol Street.
The schedule is as follows:
• Hamlet, Oct. 30- Dec. 5, officially opening on Nov. 4, in a production directed by Joe Banno (artistic director of The Source Theatre Company), will begin the season. Banno returns to The Folger after helming last season's Romeo and Juliet for which he received a 1998 Helen Hayes Award for direction.
• Last season's surprise Off-Broadway hit, Shakespeare's R&J will make an appearance in the next slot at The Folger, directed by the original adaptor and director, Joe Calarco. In R&J, four tough, street-talkin' guys, reenact Shakespeare's romantic tragedy as an exercise that becomes more and more real until they get caught up in their own roles. R&J will play Feb. 18-March 19, 2000, with an official opening on Feb. 20.
• The season will finish up with The Folger bringing in the Aquila Theatre Company to perform the historical tragedy, Julius Caesar, May 9 June 4, with an official opening May 11. The British-American troupe will tell the tale of a conspiracy to bring down the king, and the political spin put thereon by his fellow friends, Romans and countrymen. For tickets or more information on The Folger Shakespeare Season, call (202) 544-7077.
-- By Sean McGrath
