To celebrate or not to celebrate? For the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, the answer is a resounding “yes” as it marks 35 years of bringing world-class theatre to the Lehigh Valley.
The Festival has announced its 2026 Summer Theatre Series, themed “Legends and Legacy,” a season designed to honor its remarkable history while looking toward the future.
Running from May 27 through August 2, the lineup celebrates major milestones, including PSF’s 30th year as the official Shakespeare Festival of Pennsylvania, the 25th anniversary of its educational WillPower Tour, and the nation’s upcoming Semiquincentennial.
Artistic Director Jason King Jones said the theme reflects “legends of American culture from rock ’n’ roll icons to Shakespeare, Austen, and Wilson and the legacies that connect our past to our future.”
The lineup features August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson directed by Pulitzer Prize-winner James Ijames (Fat Ham), and the musical Million Dollar Quartet helmed by Jim Helsinger, Artistic Director of Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Jones himself will direct Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, presented in repertory with Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty, a new Sherlock Holmes comedy directed by Matt Pfeiffer.
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Other highlights include Jessica Bedford’s The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged and an “Extreme Shakespeare” production of Coriolanus.
The Family Theatre Series brings community favorites like As You Like It on tour, Jones’s new play Sheila the Magical, and Shakespeare for Kids: Romeo and Juliet.
Subscriptions for the 2026 season open November 17 at pashakespeare.org or by phone at 610.282.WILL [9455], with single tickets available in February 2026. Sponsors for the season are Kathleen Kund Nolan and Timothy E. Nolan.
Founded in 1992 and hosted by DeSales University, PSF is the Official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and has earned national acclaim for its professional productions, featuring artists from Broadway, television, and film.
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