June Swoon

     

    It's transition month - out with spring and into summer, Blasts of heat and cold, sun and rain. AC or a fan? Unavoidable sense of time moving on..... 

    Onto such treasures as the reopening on June 21 of an enhanced and modernized Folger Shakespeare Library in DC.  - a major event in the capital's cultural history and resources.

    A statue of Puck, the mischievous shape-shifter in "Midsummer Night's Dream," is an apt greeter for visitors entering the West entrance of the handsome white marble building at 201 East Capitol Street.  After a four-year  $80.5 million renovation, the museum - dedicated largely to the life and times of England's master poet and playwright - has changed shape in wondrous ways both inside and out.

   The structure itself was raised several feet above ground,  an engineering  marvel to behold. There are now  two entrances, new exhibit halls, new gardens,  an expanded cafe and gift shop, and new ergonomic and digital features throughout. Daylight, once forbidden in order to protect  precious treasures on display, now illuminates the Great Hall next to the scholars center  - i.e. the more accessible Reading Room. The intimate Elizabethan styled theatre remains the same under the fabled unicorn painting on the ceiling.

     Known worldwide as home to the greatest number of Shakespeare's original folios, Folger boasts a welcoming message everywhere  and an increased emphasis on the educational aim of the privately endowed institution. That's not to say it isn't also promising to be entertaining and provocative as well. 

  No one should be surprised to see the image of Martin Luther King Jr. among other celebrated literary figures on  colorful wallpaper in the Stuart & Mimi Rose Rare Book & Manuscript Exhibition Hall. The surroundings are dramatic and eclectic, reflecting the taste and interests of an Ohio couple's sterling collection.

    See below, from highlights of the opening days:

* Audience cheering for the all-female Go-Go Band Be'la Dona on stage in the Elizabethan theatre with fusion music and dance they call Sensual Crank, a  tribute to  its home town (Go-go was born in Washington.)  And as if to further  illustrate the Folger's universal appeal across the boundaries of time and culture, a flamenco troupe proceeded them.

    *Now on permanent display: a copy of a 17th century printing press. The public can try hand-printing on a similar but  simplified version at a desk nearby.

    * A sample offering in a special exhibition room featuring copies of extraordinary rare books across the ages  entitled "Imprints in Time." This one  from 1493-94  is the first book ever printed in the English language - and it's legible, sort of, inches away from the viewer behind super-secure glass.

    *An image of Martin Luther King Jr. on festive wallpaper among a legion of notable authors' works through the ages. Shakespeare is just a small part of the library's collection of some 350,000 documents and artifacts. 

    *Outgoing Library head Michel Witmore at the press preview celebrating the private marble museum's four-year $80.5 million transformation, noting the building's location among other fabled  Capitol Hill institutions - all of which representing "where words matter most." (Congressional buildings, the Supreme Court, and  the Library of Congress).

    * Selections on offer at the new Quill & Crumb cafe include English Waldorf salad, creamy ricotta blackberry tartine, crab avocado tartine, etc. Check ahead for open hours that may vary according to the season and activities' schedule.

  A sample of what is ahead for the summer (from a recent announcement) shows free programs indoors and out, July and August.  Check details  at folger.edu/what's on. Timed entry passes are available online.