The PA Shakespeare Festival kicks off its 2026 \u201cSummer Theatre Series,\u201d which runs May 27 through Aug. 2 on the campus of DeSales University, Center Valley, with August Wilson\u2019s Pulitzer-Prize-winning play \u201cThe Piano Lesson,\u201d which will be directed by Pulitzer-Prize-winning playwright James Ijames.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Piano Lesson\u201d runs May 27 to June 14 in Schubert Theatre, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University.<\/p>\n
PA Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Jason King Jones and PA Shakespeare Festival Managing Director Casey William Gallagher chose the plays for PSF\u2019s 35th anniversary season theme\u202f\u201cLegends and Legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur season celebrates legends of American culture, from rock \u2018n\u2019 roll icons to Shakespeare, Austen and Wilson, and through these legends we examine both the legacy that brought us here and the legacy we establish for the future,\u201d Jones says.<\/p>\n
The PSF 35th anniversary season includes \u201cMillion Dollar Quartet,\u201d June 10 to June 28, Main Stage; \u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged,\u201d June 24 to July 12, Schubert Theatre; Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cRomeo and Juliet,\u201d July 8 to Aug. 7, Main Stage; Ken Ludwig\u2019s \u201cMoriarty,\u201d July 16 to Aug. 1, and Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cCoriolanus,\u201d Schubert Theatre, July 22 to Aug. 2.<\/p>\n
Festival family programming includes the \u201cPlay On!\u201d Community Tour, which brings Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cAs You Like It\u201d free to regional audiences, May 29 to June 14; \u201cSheila the Magical,\u201d July 3 to Aug. 1, Schubert Theatre, and \u201cShakespeare for Kids,\u201d which explores \u201cRomeo and Juliet,\u201d July 22 to Aug. 1, Main Stage and in community libraries.<\/p>\n
The Romare Bearden painting, \u201cThe Piano Lesson,\u201d inspired Wilson to write a play about a strong female character confronting African-American history, paralleling the character Troy in his earlier play \u201cFences.\u201d PSF presented \u201cFences\u201d during its 2022 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Piano Lesson\u201d is set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the Great Depression. The play follows the lives of Doaker Charles (Kash Goins) and his niece Berneice (Jessica Johnson) and nephew Boy Willie (Akeen Davis) as they argue over what to do with the family piano, an heirloom that is decorated with designs carved by an enslaved ancestor.<\/p>\n
Boy Willie is a sharecropper who wants to sell the piano to buy the land where his ancestors toiled as slaves and claim his future.<\/p>\n
Berniece guards the instrument as a sacred altar to their history because it shows the carved faces of their great-grandfather\u2019s wife and son during the days of their enslavement.<\/p>\n
As their clashes intensify, the ghosts of the past begin to stir, forcing a reckoning with a legacy they can neither sell nor escape.<\/p>\n
The cast includes Terrence Clowe, Leonice Diaz, Johnnie Hobbs III, Jessica Money and Christopher James Murray.<\/p>\n
Written in 1987, \u201cThe Piano Lesson\u201d is the fourth play in Wilson\u2019s \u201cThe Pittsburgh Cycle.\u201d The play received the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and five Tony Award nominations, including for best play.<\/p>\n
Directing \u201cThe Piano Lesson\u201d at PSF is Ijames, who won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for his play \u201cFat Ham,\u201d a modern adaption of Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cHamlet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meet the actors for an informal talk-back after the June 4 and June 11 performances.<\/p>\n
There will be an audio-described performance for the blind or visually-impaired May 30.<\/p>\n
\u201cEpilogues\u201d a free discussion and a behind-the-scenes look at the show at 10 a.m. June 13 will allow audience members to gain deeper insight and ask questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Piano Lesson\u201d is recommended for ages 13 and up. The production contains references to slavery, racial violence and family trauma, as well as supernatural elements and period-appropriate language including racial slurs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Piano Lesson,\u201d 7:30 p.m. May 27, 28, 29, June 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12; 2 p.m. May 30, 31, June 14; 6:30 p.m. June 2, 9; 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m. June 3, 13, PA Shakespeare Festival, Schubert Theatre, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, 2755 Station Avenue, Center Valley. 610-282-9455, https:\/\/pashakespeare.org\/<\/p>\n
\u201cCurtain Rises\u201d is a column about the theater, stage shows, the actors in them and the directors and artists who make them happen. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com<\/p>\n
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOThe cast at rehearsal for PA Shakespeare Festival\u2019s \u201cThe Piano Lesson.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The PA Shakespeare Festival kicks off its 2026 \u201cSummer Theatre Series,\u201d which runs May 27 through Aug. 2…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-200942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}