The power of Arden in As You Like It, then and now

Folger Shakespeare Library: In Shakespeare’s As You Like It, Rosalind and Celia are forced from court and seek refuge in the Forest of Arden—a space where hierarchy softens and imagination restores what power has fractured. Folger Theatre’s 2026 staging of the play—a love letter to Washington, DC, as envisioned by Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels and directed by Timothy Douglas—infuses the Forest of Arden with the vibe, culture, and characters of DC’s residential neighborhoods, a singular, resilient, and redemptive place of belonging.