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Internationally renowned as a pioneering theater, for over five decades Arena has produced some of the highest quality drama anywhere. Its three theater spaces present as many as 24 performances each week of innovative, award-winning plays.

Best known for the Shakespeare Free For All.

Ten days of parades, fireworks, special menus at the restaurants, and unique events in Chinatown. Simply pass through the ornate arch at 7th and H streets, NW.

This extraordinarily inviting small theater is used by a number of local companies for productions of all types. With high ceilings and about 100 seats, it is renowned as a venue for interesting work.

The home of the library’s music series (see Concert Series).

The largest concert hall in D.C.

This top-quality and lively film festival has brought the best of world cinema to the city for over 15 years. The most exciting new films are shown during two weeks in April at various venues, and discussions and film-oriented events are held at theaters, auditoriums, and cafés.

Visitors get a unique experience in the Elizabethan Theatre, which strongly suggests the setting in which Shakespeare’s works were originally performed. Works of the Bard and his near contemporaries are featured, and performances of medieval and baroque music fill the schedule (see Folger Shakespeare Library and Theater).

The tragedy of Lincoln’s assassination here in 1865 kept this theater closed for over 100 years, but now it is the home of a vibrant theater company as well as being a museum and historic landmark. Top-notch performers and directors stage plays expressing human values in a multicultural world.

The recipient of a huge number of awards, this theater mounts works in Spanish with simultaneous English translation. Brilliant productions of works from the classical to the absurd attract a diverse audience.