PA Shakespeare Festival (PSF) will mark its 35th anniversary with its 2026 summer season May 27 to Aug, 2, 2026.<\/p>\n
PSF, celebrating an historic convergence of milestones: its 30th year as the official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; 25th anniversary of its educational WillPower Tour, and the United States\u2019 Semiquincentennial, has announced its upcoming season of nine productions with the theme \u201cLegends and Legacy.\u201d The festival takes place at Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, Avenue, Center Valley.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur season celebrates legends of American culture, from rock \u2018n\u2019 roll icons to Shakespeare, Austen, and Wilson,\u201d says PSF Artistic Director Jason King Jones. \u201cThrough these legends, we examine both the legacy that brought us here and the legacy we establish for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
The season lineup includes August Wilson\u2019s \u201cThe Piano Lesson,\u201d directed by Pulitzer Prize-winner James Ijames; the musical \u201cMillion Dollar Quartet\u201d; \u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged\u201d; an \u201cExtreme Shakespeare\u201d production of \u201cCoriolanus,\u201d and Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cRomeo and Juliet,\u201d presented in repertory with Ken Ludwig\u2019s new Sherlock Holmes\u2019 comedy \u201cMoriarty.\u201d<\/p>\n
PSF season subscriptions go on sale Nov. 17.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Piano Lesson\u201d opens the Festival, running May 27 to June 14 in the Schubert Theater.<\/p>\n
Wilson\u2019s Pulitzer and Tony-winning masterwork unfolds in 1936 Pittsburgh, where the Charles family struggles over an heirloom piano carved with the faces of their enslaved ancestors.<\/p>\n
The production will be directed by James Ijames, who won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for his play \u201cFat Ham,\u201d a modern adaption of Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cHamlet,\u201d which was nominated for five Tony Awards, including best play.<\/p>\n
\u201cMillion Dollar Quartet,\u201d the musical inspired by a 1956 impromptu jam session by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, runs June 10 to 28 on the Main Stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cMillion Dollar Quartet\u201d will be directed by Jim Helsinger, Orlando Shakespeare Theater Artistic Director.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged,\u201d written by Jessica Bedford, Kathryn MacMillan, Charlotte Northeast and Meghan Winch, will run June 24 to July 12 in the Schubert Theatre.<\/p>\n
The 2019 play takes audiences on a whirlwind tour through Austin\u2019s novels, including \u201cPride and Prejudice,\u201d \u201cSense and Sensibility\u201d and \u201cEmma,\u201d condensed into 80 minutes.<\/p>\n
The classic tragedy of star-crossed lovers \u201cRomeo and Juliet,\u201d July 8 to Aug. 7 on the Main Stage, will be directed by Jones.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoriarty\u201d is Ludwig\u2019s new comedy that brings back Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, as well as criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty, who are caught up in an international web of spies, blackmail and deception. \u201cMoriarty,\u201d July 16 to Aug. 1 on the Main Stage, will be directed by Festival veteran Matt Pfeiffer.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoriolanus,\u201d Shakespeare\u2019s tragedy on the politics of power, July 22 to Aug. 2, Schubert Theatre, is a premier and advances PSF\u2019s progress toward completing the Shakespearean canon.<\/p>\n
Festival family programming includes the \u201cPlay On!\u201d Community Tour which will bring Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cAs You Like It\u201d free to regional audiences May 29 to June 14; \u201cSheila the Magical,\u201d a new play by Jones, which continues the story from last summer\u2019s \u201cThe Princess and the Frog Prince,\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
PA Shakespeare Festival 2026 season information: 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 PHOTOJames Ijames, director, \u201cThe Piano Lesson,\u201d PA Shakespeare Festival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PA Shakespeare Festival (PSF) will mark its 35th anniversary with its 2026 summer season May 27 to Aug,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":{"0":"post-33956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-headlines","10":"tag-allentown-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33956","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=33956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}