The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival (PSF) is a professional theatre company in residence at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania and the official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.[1]
The Festival is organized as a non-profit 501(c)(3) in Pennsylvania. Each summer, PSF produces six or more plays, including a musical, and special one-night-only performances. In the fall, PSF tours a Shakespeare play to schools as part of its Linny Fowler WillPower tour. Since its inception, the Festival has been attended by over 1,000,000 people. The acting company consists primarily of professional actors from New York and Philadelphia and who are members of Actors' Equity Association. The plays are performed in two theatres in The Labuda Center for the Performing Arts: the 473-seat proscenium Main Stage or the 187-seat thrust Schubert Theatre on the DeSales University campus in Center Valley.
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival is listed as a major festival in the book Shakespeare Festivals Around the World by Marcus D. Gregio (Editor), 2004.
Productions
2025 season
Penelope - Music and Lyrics by Alex Bechtel • Book by Alex Bechtel, Grace McLean, and Eva Steinmetz • May 28 - June 8 • Schubert Theatre
Mel Brooks' The Producers - Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan • Music and Lyrics by Mel Brooks • June 11 - June 29 • Main Stage
A Raisin in the Sun - By Lorraine Hansberry • June 25 - July 13 • Schubert Theatre
Hamlet - By William Shakespeare • July 9 - August 3 • Main Stage
The Color Purple - Book by Marsha Norman • Music & Lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray • July 17 - August 4 • Main Stage
Cymbeline - By William Shakespeare • July 24 - August 4 • Schubert Theatre
"Play On!" Community Tour The Comedy of Errors - By William Shakespeare • May 31 - June 16 • Tour
Winnie-the-Pooh & Friends - Based on the classic stories from A.A. Milne • Adapted by Jason King Jones • July 5 - August 3 • Schubert Theatre
Shakespeare For Kids - By Erin Sheffield • July 24 - August 3 • Main Stage
2023 season
Henry IV, Part 2 - By William Shakespeare • May 31 - June 11 • Schubert Theatre
In the Heights - Music & Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda; Book by Quiara Alegría Hudes; Conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda • June 14 - July 2 • Main Stage
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again] - By Adam Long, Daniel Singer, Jess Winfield; New Revisions by Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield • June 28 - July 16 • Outdoor Stage
The Tempest - By William Shakespeare • July 12 - August 6 • Main Stage
Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility - Adapted by Jessica Swale • July 20 - August 5 • Main Stage
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill - By Lanie Robertson; Musical Arrangements by Danny Holgate • July 19 - August 6 • Schubert Theatre
"Play On!" Community Tour A Midsummer Night's Dream - By William Shakespeare • June 2 - June 18 • Tour
A Chorus Line - Conceived and Originally Directed and Choreographed by Michael Bennett; Book by James Kirkwood & Nicholas Dante; Music by Marvin Hamlish; Lyrics by Edward Kleban; Co Choreographed by Bob Avian • June 22 - July 10 • Main Stage
Fences - by August Wilson - July 27-August 7 • Main Stage
The River Bride (Staged Reading) - By Marisela Treviño Orta • July 1 - July 3 • Schubert Theatre
Shakespeare For Kids - By Erin Sheffield • July 28 - August 6 • Main Stage
Little Red - By Andrew Kane • June 3 - August 6 • Schubert Theatre
2021 season
Native Gardens - By Karen Zacharias
How I Learned What I Learned- By August Wilson • June 29 - July 11 • Main Stage
A Midsummer Night's Dream- By William Shakespeare • July 20 - August 1 • Air Products Open Air Theatre
In Concert with Phoenix Best- July 12 • Air Products Open Air Theatre
An Iliad - By Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare • July 7 - August 1 • Main Stage
Love's Labour's Lost- By William Shakespeare (PSF Young Company) • July 24–25 • Air Products Open Air Theatre
Charlotte's Web- By Joseph Robinette • June 25 - July 31 • Air Products Open Air Theatre
2020 season
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's 2020 season was scheduled to begin on May 29, 2020. On March 30, 2020, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival released a statement saying that the 2020 season would be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. PSF continued to engage with patrons through the "At Home with PSF" program which features interviews with artists, staff memories, and theatre resources.
2019 season
Crazy for You - Music and Lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin; Book by Ken Ludwig • June 12 - June 30 • Main Stage
Antony & Cleopatra - By William Shakespeare • July 10 - August 4 • Main Stage
Private Lives - By Noël Coward • July 18 - August 4 • Main Stage
Henry IV, Part 1 - By William Shakespeare • July 24 - August 4 • Schubert Theatre
The Adventures of Robin Hood and Maid Marian - By Brandon E. McLauren • May 31 - August 3 • Schubert Theatre
Shakespeare for Kids - By Erin Sheffield • July 24 - August 3 • Main Stage
2018 season
Ragtime - Book by Terrence McNally; Music by Stephen Flaherty; Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens; Based on the novel “RAGTIME” by E.L. Doctorow • June 13 - July 1 • Main Stage
Twelfth Night – By William Shakespeare • June 21 - July 15 • Schubert Theatre
Shakespeare in Love - Based on the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard; Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall; Music by Paddy Cunneen • July 11 - August 5 • Main Stage
King Richard II - By William Shakespeare • July 19 - August 5 • Main Stage
Alice in Wonderland - By Michele L. Vacca • June 1 - August 4 • Schubert Theatre
Shakespeare for Kids - By Erin Sheffield • July 25 - August 4 • Main Stage
2017 season
Evita - Lyrics by Tim Rice; Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber • June 14 - July 2 • Main Stage
The Hound of the Baskervilles – By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Adapted by Steven Canny & John Nicholson • June 21 - July 16 • Schubert Theatre
The Three Musketeers - By Ken Ludwig; Adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas • July 12 - August 6 • Main Stage
As You Like It - By William Shakespeare • July 20 - August 6 • Main Stage
Troilus and Cressida - By William Shakespeare • July 26 - August 6 • Schubert Theatre
The Ice Princess - By Brandon E. McLauren; Adapted from Hans Christian Andersen • June 2 - August 5 • Schubert Theatre
Shakespeare for Kids - By Erin Sheffield • July 26 - August 5 • Main Stage
2016 season
West Side Story - Based on a conception of Jerome Robbins; Book by Arthur Laurents; Music by Leonard Bernstein; Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Entire original production directed and choreography by Jerome Robbins; Inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet • June 15 - July 3 • Main Stage
Julius Caesar – By William Shakespeare • June 22 - July 17 • Schubert Theatre
Henry V - William Shakespeare • July 16 - August 2 • Main Stage
Pericles - By William Shakespeare • July 22 - August 2 • Schubert Theatre
Rapunzel - Brothers Grimm fairy tale adapted by Erin Sheffield • May 29 - August 1 • Schubert Theatre
Shakespeare for Kids - By Erin Sheffield • July 22 - August 1 • Schubert Theatre
WillPower Tour
The Festival's signature education program is the annual Linny Fowler WillPower Tour, which brings a professionally produced Shakespeare play to middle schools and high schools throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Initiated in 2000, the WillPower Tour is a professionally directed 80-minute production with sets and costumes featuring a company of professionally-trained and experienced actors and teachers. Half-day or full-day programming meet academic standards with curriculum guides provided in advance. Post-performance discussion gives students the opportunity to share their reactions and insights. Celebrating its 20th year, the fall 2019 WillPower Tour's production of Macbeth reached over 11,000 students in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
'Play On!' Community Tour
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival’s 'Play On!' Community Tour brings accessible Shakespeare to neighborhoods throughout the Lehigh Valley. The production brings free performances of various Shakespeare plays to libraries, parks, and community centers all over the region. The 'Play On!' Tour is a professionally directed 80-minute production featuring PSF's Young Company, which consists of professionally trained and hired DeSales University Theatre students. The tour includes 14 different locations across Lehigh Valley and the surrounding counties, with an additional encore performance at PSF Community Day.
Muse of Fire Project
The Muse of Fire Project, established in 2025, is an educational initiative that places high school students from across the Lehigh Valley at the center of a fully-realized Shakespeare production. This program offers local high school students the rare opportunity to perform on a professional stage while working alongside professional directors and artists.
History
The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival was founded in 1992 by Gerard J. Schubert, O.S.F.S., founder and chair of Performing and Fine Arts department at DeSales University. PSF has offered 200+ total productions, produced 31 of Shakespeare’s 38 plays, plus musicals, world classics, contemporary comedies, dramas and children’s shows.
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