Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's 2025 season on sale now, offers 9 productions

UPPER SAUCON TWP., Pa. — Shakespeare returns to DeSales University in May.

Single tickets are on sale for Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's 2025 season.

The season, led by Artistic Director Jason King Jones and Managing Director Casey William Gallagher, includes nine productions.

Among those are two musicals, Mel Brooks' Tony Award-winning hit "The Producers" and the new musical, "Penelope."

Renditions of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" will be performed in repertory with Tom Stoppard's tragicomedy "Rosencrantz," and "Guildenstern Are Dead," the lesser-produced "Timon of Athens" and a touring production of "Much Ado About Nothing."

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, or PSF, will run from May 28 to Aug. 3 at Desales University's Labuda Center for the Performing Arts.

As in previous years, the series also will include performances throughout the Lehigh Valley.

Other highlights include Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking drama "A Raisin in the Sun."

'The Producers,' 'Penelope'

The season will begin with a production of "Penelope," a new one-woman musical and a twist on Penelope, one of the main characters in "The Odyssey."

The production was co-produced with Theatre Horizon, a Philadelphia-based theater company.

It will feature original music and lyrics by Alex Bechtel and a book by Bechtel, Grace McClean and Eva Steinmetz.

Actress Rachel Camp will reprise her role following its run this year at Theatre Horizon, along with Steinmetz, who will direct the show.

"Penelope" will run at the Schubert Theatre from May 28 to June 8. Tickets start at $25.

Also, director Jennifer Childs will return to PSF to direct a rendition of Mel Brooks' "The Producers."

Childs will be joined by actors Scott Greer (as Max Bialystock) and Anthony Lawton (as Franz Liebkind).

"The Producers" will run from June 11-29 on the Main Stage. Tickets start at $25.

'Raisin in the Sun,' 'Hamlet'

PSF actor Akeem Davis will make his directorial debut with "A Raisin in the Sun."

The drama, written by Lorraine Hansberry, will star returning actors Billie Wyatt and Beneatha Younger.

"A Raisin in the Sun" will run from June 25 to July 13 at the Schubert Theater.

Tickets start at $25.

This year, the returning repertory on the Main Stage pairs Shakespeare's "Hamlet" with "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard.

Actor Biko Eisen-Martin will star in "Hamlet." Eisen-Martin will be joined by an ensemble of returning actors, including Taysha Marie Canales, Sean Close, Eric Hissom, Ian Merrill Peakes and Grace Gonglewski.

Show dates are July 9 to Aug. 3. The cost of tickets range from $25 to $47.

'Timon of Athens'

Shakespeare’s "Timon of Athens" will be a chance for Bard fans
to see one of Shakespeare's lesser-known works.

Presented in what PSF calls “extreme Shakespeare” style, actors arrive with their lines learned, rehearse independently and open within a matter of days.

Longtime PSF actor Greg Wood will star in the main role, marking his 27th season with the festival.

He's now in rehearsals for Broadway’s "Othello" alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Denzel Washington.

"Timon of Athens" will run July 23 to Aug. 3 in the Schubert Theatre.

Tickets cost $25 to $52.

Family-friendly programming

Along with the main productions, the festival's lineup includes several theatrics for kids.

PSF's "Play On!" will return with free performances of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing."

The performances will take place from May 30 to June 15 at libraries and churches around the Lehigh Valley.

To see the complete "Play On!" schedule, visit the PSF website.

Also suitable for all ages will be a production of "The Princess and the Frog Prince" will take place July 4 to Aug. 3 at the Schubert Theatre.

Tickets cost $14.50 to $18.50.

Single tickets, subscriptions and packages to the festival can be purchased online atPSF's websiteor by calling the box office at 610-282-9455.