Join us for a panel discussion of artistic practitioners from across the DC area as they discuss the festival’s theme. In 2023, how and why should Shakespeare remain part of the artistic life in America? Facilitated by Folger Director, Michael Witmore, this conversation will gather leaders from Mosaic Theatre, Shakespeare Theater Company, Folger Theatre and more to discuss how Shakespeare can be a catalyst for a more diverse, inclusive, and technologically engaged future.

Michael Witmore, a scholar of Shakespeare and early modern literature as well as a pioneer in the digital analysis of Shakespeare’s texts, is Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library where he is leading a multi-year building expansion which will open in 2024. Prior to the Folger, Witmore was a Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin where he directed the Working Group for Digital Inquiry, a group of humanists who use computers to assist in traditional humanities research. His many books include Shakespeare and Early Modern Religion, co-edited with David Loewenstein; Landscapes of the Passing Strange: Reflections from Shakespeare, a collaboration with noted writer and photographer Rosamond Purcell; and Shakespearean Metaphysics. He is currently writing a book on the digital analysis of Shakespeare’s texts with Jonathan Hope.