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]
Founded | 1992 |
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Founder | Gerard J. Schubert, O.S.F.S. |
Type | Arts |
Focus | The Plays of William Shakespeare and other classic playwrights |
Area served | Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Delaware |
Product | Professional Theatre |
Owner | DeSales University |
Key people | Jason King Jones, Artistic Director; Casey William Gallagher, Managing Director |
Employees | 15 year-round; 200+ seasonally |
Volunteers | 200 |
Website | www |
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. 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.
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 continues to engage with patrons through the "At Home with PSF" program which features interviews with artists, staff memories, and theatre resources.
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.
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.
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