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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.

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.

Top actors, directors, designers, and lighting experts are involved in every dazzling production here. Although specializing in Shakespeare, the company also mounts works by other playwrights (see Folger Shakespeare Library and Theater).

A wonderful venue for touring shows, the National Theatre opened in 1835. Since then every US president has attended at least one of its performances. Many Broadway hits have staged their premiere here, including Showboat and West Side Story .

From Shakespeare to Sondheim, from gripping drama to light-hearted comedies and musicals, the many theater productions at this landmark arts center are almost always critically acclaimed. There are a variety of performance spaces catering to different styles, seating from just a few hundred people to more than 2,000.

The challenging productions of this nonprofit company allow authors, directors, and actors to deeply explore characters and their social and political situations.

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 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.

Off-Broadway hits, classics, and experimental fare make up the season at this performance landmark. Two theater spaces are available for the engrossing and often splendid productions here.

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.