The nation’s capital is as vibrant today as ever. The city is a city of culture, including music and theater. Here are some of Washington’s most outstanding performing centers:

- The Shakespeare Theater Company (originally the Folger Theater Group) puts on plays, not only by Shakespeare, but by Euripides, Oscar Wilde, and many other famous playwrights. A replica of the Elizabethan theater was once located here.

- Adventure Theater is a theater for children. Founded in 1951, is the longest running program of its kind in the area.

- GALA (Grupo de Artistas Latinoamericanos) Hispanic Theater stages works in Spanish. These range from plays by such Renaissance artists as Tirso de Molina, to those by contemporary writers.

All the companies discussed so far are producing theaters. Among the city’s presenting and rental theaters is Ford’s Theater, renowned as the place where President Lincoln was fatally shot; the Lincoln Theater; and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Independent companies include the Young Playwrights’ Theater;. And the universities maintain their own performing companies: American Universities, for instance, has the Katzen Arts Center and the Harold & Sylvia Greenberg Theater.

These are just a few theaters; there are countless others.