Make haste! Shakespeare saves a life at the Folger

Jacob Ming-Trent talks to God in Folger Theatre's How Shakespeare Saved My Life/Photo by Erika Nizborski

Jacob Ming-Trent wants to save another life, like Shakespeare saved his, to inspire at least one person, one artist to create, to make, to help, to forgive.


At the Folger Theatre, it's the world premiere of How Shakespeare Saved My Life which Mr. Ming-Trent wrote and performs in the most energetic, gripping solo show I have seen.


In a fast 90 minutes, the actor/playwright describes his youthful struggles for survival, his encounters with the law, with teachers, men on the street, men in the pulpit.

Jacob Ming-Trent in Folger Theatre's How Shakespeare Saved My Life/Photo by Erika Nizborski.

He portrays several different characters, his parents, a preacher man, the guys under the bridge, and many more, all realistically presented with distinctive mannerisms, vocal pauses and inflections. 

Director Tony Taccone has Mr. Ming-Trent moving from stage right to stage left and back again, speaking non-stop, leaving the audience breathless and hungry for calm which they hope he (and they) will find.

When he was a teen, his mother threw him out of the house, refusing to let him back in despite his many pleas over the years, she, a cruel and heartless person who told her only child at his father’s funeral, that she felt absolutely nothing, nothing for her son when he was born. 

One can't help but wonder how she feels now or where she is, if she'd let him back in the house since he's found success, but her story is not his or this story which includes forgiveness.

His dad told his son that the best thing for a man to be was a good listener, and his child followed his advice, quoting Shakespeare in his show: ”To thine own self be true.”

Shakespeare rescues Mr. Ming-Trent from a life of crime, from homelessness, despair, thoughts of suicide.

Combining his script with hip hop, and the fantastic music by Jake Rodriguez, Takeshi Kata's rapidly changing scenics and Alexander V. Nichols' projections, and it’s another greatness thrust upon Mr. Ming-Trent’s canon, with a supporting cast, the audience becoming the congregation in Mr. Ming-Trent's church, hungry for inspiration and the hope he bestows.

This Life ends abruptly before we hear about Mr. Ming-Trent’s star rising, his many shows listed in the program attesting to his success.

"Play on," Jacob Ming-Trent, play on.

Other Life creative team members are Tiffany Rachelle Stewart, choreographer; Danielle Preston, costumes; Alan C. Edwards, lighting; Taylor Kiechlin, production stage manager; Miranda Korieth, assistant stage manager.


The Folger and Red Bull theatres commissioned the play with co-production by the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

In an interview with American Theatre this year, Mr. Ming-Trent said: “Shakespeare is a rule-breaker, and I’m a rule-breaker. I love tearing down the classical theatre’s ivory tower and using the scaffolding and bricks to rebuild a place where we all are welcome.”


Who: Jacob Ming-Trent

What: How Shakespeare Saved My Life

When: Evenings through July 5 at 7:30 p.m. (8:00 p.m., Friday) plus matinees Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 2 p.m. No performance on July 4.

Where: Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol Street, SE Washington, DC 20003

How much: Tickets start at $20 with discounts for military members, veterans and their families; those 35 and under; public servants; seniors; students; first time Folger attendees; pay-what-you can; groups of ten or more; and rush tickets at half price, if available, one hour before performances. Check the website.

Closest Metro stations: Union Station and Capitol South

Recommended for ages 13 and up. Mature language and adult situations and conversations.

For more information: folgerboxoffice@folger.edu or 202-544-7077

patricialesli@gmail.com

Make haste! Bold 'Othello' departs June 28

 

From left, Ben Turner is Iago and Wendell Pierce is Othello at Shakespeare Theatre Company/Photo by Theresa Castracane


The acting is as superb as all that’s been told.

After the performance, a father and daughter told me that they couldn’t wait to bring other family members to the show.

Wendell Pierce is the Broadway star who is Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Othello, a bold showman whose role in the first act is moderate compared to the demands of the second.

And whatever act it is, the dastardly Iago (Ben Turner) commands the stage, a forceful and stronger villain than other Iagos I have witnessed.

Casting director Danica Rodriguez took no shortcuts choosing the actors for one of the bard's best.

Iago is angry that he’s been overlooked for a promotion by General Othello who chooses Cassio (Lucas Iverson) for the position, and what’s this? Has the general has been trifling with Iago’s wife, Emilia (Melanie Field)?

All the more reasons to act on Iago’s suspicions!

Says Iago to Othello: "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on."

Iago unceasingly feeds hints of imaginary betrayal to Othello by his wife, Desdemona (Olivia Cygan), a frail and delicate flower who never professes anything but faithfulness to her husband.

She has eloped with Othello, much to the shock of her father, Brabantio (Joey Collins) who disowns his daughter and hints of future infidelity to his new black son-in-law.

Alas! When it came to the marriage bed, I did indeed think Othello had smothered Desdemona in the lifelike murder scene when Desdemona fights for life under the sheets, kicking her legs and wailing, Othello’s heart having turned to stone.

Melanie Field is Emilia the handmaid for Desdemona (Olivia Cygan) in Othello at Shakespeare Theatre Company/Photo by Theresa Castracane

The victim’s handmaid, Emilia, in a spellbinding delivery, comes to the aid of her mistress too late! Emilia berating her deplorable spouse, she soon to be slain when the truth is revealed before the star kills himself.

So little time, so many murders.


Scenic designer Susan Hilferty places the few props in strategic locations, more, unnecessary since the play’s jealousy and revenge are all consuming, leaving audience members who eavesdrop on Iago’s plans, breathless and tense, most already aware of the outcome.


Daniel Velez, Todd Schofield, Derek Garza, Giovanna Drummond are other cast members with the Ensemble: Jon Beal, C.J.Craig, Sofia Hernandez-Morales, Claire Hilton, Anna Marzullo, Vish Shukla, Cole Sitilides, James Whalen, Em Whitworth.

STC's artistic director, Simon Godwin, directs the play in a tight presentation.  It's Othello, after all.


The artistic team includes Shiloh Coke, composer; Hilferty and Sarita P. Fellows, costume designers; Amith A. Chandrashaker, lighting; Christopher Shutt, sound; Jonathan Goddard, choreographer; Everett Judd, assistant director; Laura Smith, production stage manager; Robb Hunter, fight choreographer.

Heritage Foundation presents Marxism v. Conservatism

Dr. Paul Kengor at the Heritage Foundation, June 4, 2026/By Patricia Leslie

The program was billed as "Communism at America 250," the third annual Lee Edwards Lecture in Conservative Leadership at the Heritage Foundation.

Dr. Paul Kengor spoke on the principles of Marxism versus Conservatism.

He rarely used the word "communism" other than to say (a couple of times) that communists do not permit elections.

Dr. Lee Edwards's daughter, Dr. Elizabeth Edwards Spalding, the chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, served as moderator.  

Dr. Paul Kengor and Dr. Elizabeth Edwards Spalding at the Heritage Foundation, June 4, 2026/By Patricia Leslie

Dr. Kengor is the author of 20 books, including The Devil and Karl Marx, and teaches separate classes on Marxism and Conservatism at Grove City College, both, quite popular classes, it seemed from his remarks.

He began his talk with Gallup statistics which says that 67% of American college students have a positive or neutral attitude towards socialism while only 40% have a positive view of capitalism. 

Dr. Paul Kengor at the Heritage Foundation, June 4, 2026/By Patricia Leslie

No two philosophies present a clearer contrast than Marxism and Conservatism, he said, describing Marxism in one sentence: “the abolition of private property” requiring “gulags and guns to take away."

He presented a 10-point plan of Marxism, and said, with the assistance of a student, he had conducted a content analysis of the Communist Manifesto. 1998  was the 150th anniversary of its publication.

In their study, they never found the word "love," but they found the most popular word to be "abolition" as in, Marxism seeks to take away inheritances and spread population so that people are equally distributed between town and country. 

Marxism requires a forcible withdrawal of all existing social conditions to achieve its goals, including the necessity of separating children from parents.

“Communism begins where atheism begins“ and "it's hard to be a conservative if you are an atheist."

He featured Ronald Reagan and the principles of conservatism which is the opposite of progressivism. 

While conservatives believe in an enduring moral order, progressives believe in an evolving moral order.  The principles of conservatism are unchanging.

Reagan believed that “every person is a sacred reality and the individual is superior to the state.”

Republicans are grounded by moral laws.

Reagan was pictured on the big screen with some of his famous quotes, followed by photos and quotes of Russell Kirk, Edmund Burke, and G.K. Chesterton.

In the question and answer session, Dr. Spalding said conservative curriculum has been developed for elementary through college level students.

That's where the Heritage Foundation comes in, according to Kengor, because it comes down to "education and education and education." 

The first time Trump’s name came up was when Kengor talked about the likeability of Ronald Reagan and how happy he was. Reagan was not an angry man; he was not hated by the majority and he carried 49 of 50 states in 1984.

Trump’s name came up again when Kengor quoted Reagan‘s “peace through strength“ which he said Trump uses a lot.

Surprisingly, the speaker devoted quite a bit of time to Pope Leo XIV whom he called a Republican but, when it comes to peace and the pope's opposition to war, well, maybe he's a liberal in that aspect, after all.  

He said 108 of the 133 electors voted for Pope Leo (a confidential number, he said). The Catholics wanted a return to normalcy, while the Italians favored Leo because he was “the least American of Americans.”

Dr. Paul Kengor at the Heritage Foundation, June 4, 2026/By Patricia Leslie

Dr. Spalding invited all present to a candlelight vigil and the third sponsored anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre at Massachusetts and New Jersey avenues at 8 p.m. that night (June 4).

A reception with beer, wine, and hors d’oeuvres followed the presentation. Security was tight.

From its press release: "The Heritage Foundation established the annual Lee Edwards Lecture in recognition of Dr. Edwards’s long service as a Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought at The Heritage Foundation, during which he wrote most of his 25 books about the leading individuals and institutions of the modern conservative movement. In addition to biographies of President Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater, William F. Buckley Jr. and Edwin Meese III, Dr. Edwards wrote histories of The Heritage Foundation, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, and the conservative movement."

patricialesli@gmail.com