‘Shakespeare was a Black woman’: the playwright’s under-recognized connection to Black culture

By the Editorial Team · Monday, October 19, 2026

The Folger Shakespeare Library has opened *To Hear Her Speak: Black Women and Shakespeare*, an exhibition exploring over four centuries of Black women’s engagement with Shakespeare through performance, scholarship, and creative expression. By highlighting historical erasures and celebrating Black women’s reinterpretations, the exhibit challenges traditional narratives and offers an interactive experience that invites new conversations about representation and inclusivity in the arts.

In an innovative exhibition at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC, the enduring and complex relationship between Black women and the works of William Shakespeare is brought into focus for the first time. Titled *To Hear Her Speak: Black Women and Shakespeare*, the exhibit opened in early October and will run through May 2, 2027. It traces more than four centuries of Black women’s engagement with Shakespeare, highlighting how they have reinterpreted and reclaimed his works through performance, scholarship, and creative expression.

Curated by Dr. Patricia Akhimie, director of the Folger Institute, the exhibition challenges long-held assumptions about Shakespeare’s cultural milieu and the visibility of Black women’s voices. Akhimie emphasizes the need to dispel the myth that Shakespeare’s London was culturally homogenous, noting that historical records reveal a more diverse society. However, many artifacts documenting Black women’s involvement with Shakespeare’s works disappeared during the 18th and 19th centuries, a period marked by the height of the transatlantic slave trade. This loss reflects the broader historical erasure of Black women’s experiences during an era when their humanity and contributions were systematically obscured.

The exhibition draws on objects from the Folger’s extensive Shakespeare collection alongside materials from other archives to fill these historical gaps. These include a First Folio once owned by a slaveholding British family, documents relating to enslaved individuals on a sugar plantation, and personal items such as sugar tongs and a tea caddy adorned with Shakespeare’s image. It also features a copybook by Phillis Wheatley, the first Black American poet and formerly enslaved woman, and notes from Toni Morrison on her Shakespearean play *Desdemona*.

*To Hear Her Speak* is designed as a multi-sensory experience, incorporating nearly 100 artifacts, photographs, playbills, diaries, costumes, and video recordings of Black actresses performing Shakespeare through the ages. The exhibit includes a replica of playwright Lorraine Hansberry’s 1950s New York apartment, where visitors can view historical clips and explore a mini-archive of writings connecting Black women and Shakespeare. An audioguide narrated by actor Adjoa Andoh, known for her Shakespearean roles and work on *Bridgerton*, accompanies visitors through the exhibit, which also features interactive writing activities and a curated playlist featuring artists like Aretha Franklin and Lauryn Hill.

The exhibition’s title is drawn from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, a poem long speculated by scholars to reference a Black woman, underscoring its thematic focus on Black female presence and representation. According to Akhimie, Black women have strategically turned to Shakespeare across centuries as a source of inspiration, empowerment, and cultural legitimacy. This tradition aligns with Maya Angelou’s 1985 declaration that Shakespeare’s writings spoke to her experience as a Black woman, illustrating the deeply personal and political resonance his works can hold.

Akhimie describes Shakespeare as a “reliable partner” for Black female artists navigating worlds where their voices have often been marginalized. By engaging with Shakespeare’s language and legacy, they assert their creativity and humanity, forging new meanings and stories. Ultimately, *To Hear Her Speak* invites visitors not only to observe but to participate, asking how Shakespeare’s works can inspire fresh narratives and foster greater inclusivity in the arts and humanities.

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