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.
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I liked how this article highlights the production’s portrayal of the Forest of Arden functioning as more than just a physical setting in As You Like It. When the article spoke about how Arden represents a space of transformation and how this contrasts to the rigid hierarchy and political tension of the court, it made me think of the importance of adaptation in theatre today. We are constantly going from what he know of theatre in the past, whether that be the meaning behind The Forest of Arden or use of technology in theatre, to produce innovative productions while nurturing the classical methods.
This is why I found the discussion of the Folger Shakespeare Library’s modern staging particularly interesting. By connecting Arden to contemporary Washington, DC neighborhoods, the production shows how the idea of Arden can evolve and be accessible to a modern audience, while still preserving its core meaning as a place of belonging.
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