The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival (PSF) is a professional theater company in residence at DeSales University and the Official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Festival is organized as a non-profit 501(c)(3) in Pennsylvania. Each summer, PSF produces six or more plays (often 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. The Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary season in the summer of 2016. Since its inception, the Festival has been attended by 850,000 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 theaters in The Labuda Center for the Performing Arts: the 473-seat proscenium Mainstage or the 189-seat thrust Schubert Theater 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.
Pennsylvania shakespeare festival 20th anniversary 2011 season
2017 Season
Evita - Lyrics by Tim Rice; Music by Andrew Llyod Webber • June 114 - 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 Anderson • 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
Rapunzel - Brothers Grimm fairy tale adapted by Erin Sheffield
Shakespeare for Kids - By Erin Sheffield
2014 Season
"Fiddler on the Roof" - Based on the Sholem Aleichem stories by special permission of Arnold Perl; Book by Joseph Stein, Music by Jerry Bock, Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick; Produced on the New York Stage by Harold Prince; Original New York Stage Production Directed and Choreographed by Jerome Robbins - June 11 - June 29
The Two Gentlemen of Verona – By William Shakespeare - June 13 - July 13
Lend Me a Tenor - By Ken Ludwig - July 9 - August 3
Macbeth- By William Shakespeare - July 17 - August 3
Women of Will - By Tina Packer - July 20 - August 3
Cinderella - By Brandon E. McLauren - May 30 - August 2
Shakespeare for Kids - By Erin Hurley - July 23 - August 2
2013 Season
Oklahoma! - Music by Richard Rodgers, Book & Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Based on the play Green Grown the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs, Original Dances by Agnes De Mille - June 12 - June 30
The 39 Steps – Adapted by Patrick Barlow, From the novel by John Buchan, From the movie of Alfred Hitchcock - June 19 - July 14
South Pacific - Book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan, Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II - June 15 - July 3
The Two Noble Kinsmen - By William Shakespeare and John Fletcher - July 27 - August 7
Sleeping Beauty - By Michele L. Vacca - June 3 - August 6
Shakespeare for Kids - By Erin Hurley - July 27 - August 6
On the Green June 15 - August 7
2010 Season
Romeo and Juliet - By William Shakespeare
The Merry Wives of Windsor - By William Shakespeare
The Playboy of the Western World - By J. M. Synge
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum - Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
Robin Hood - By Brandon E. McLauren
Shakespeare for Kids
The Green Show May 29- August 1
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 actor/teachers. Half-day or full-day programming meets academic standards, with curriculum guides provided in advance. Post-performance discussion gives the students the opportunity to share their reactions and insights. The fall 2016 WillPower Tour featured Hamlet, which toured schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware from October 5 - November 18, 2016.
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.
Notable Actors
Steve Burns - 2013, Clown 1, The 39 Steps; 2011, Dromio of Syracuse, The Comedy of Errors; 2007, Amadeus, Amadeus
