Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Unveils Ambitious 2025 Season: Nine Full Productions Exploring ‘Undiscovered Countries’
Center Valley, PA: October 22, 2024—Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival’s leadership team, Artistic Director Jason King Jones and Managing Director Casey William Gallagher, are thrilled to announce the 2025 Summer Season—nine productions united through the theme “Undiscovered Countries.” “At PSF we love how incredible stories and exceptional artistry can transport us to imaginative places we’ve never experienced,” says Jones. “Whether the undiscovered countries are geographic, psychological, or otherwise, we invite our community to bravely journey with us into the unknown.”
The season features three plays by William Shakespeare including Hamlet, playing in repertory with Tom Stoppard’s tragicomedy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, the lesser staged Timon of Athens, and a touring production of Much Ado About Nothing. The season also features Lorraine Hansberry’s landmark drama A Raisin in the Sun, alongside two musical productions: Mel Brooks’ Tony Award-winning The Producers and the new musical Penelope by Alex Bechtel.
Family programming includes a fresh adaptation of Grimms’ fairy tales The Princess and the Frog Prince, and the beloved Shakespeare for Kids series, which brings Hamlet to life for young audiences both at the Festival and through its community library tour.
“For an exceptional community we’ve put together an exceptional season. The professional artistry we’re planning for 2025 is electrifying, and we invite everyone to experience the thrill of live professional theatre right here in the Lehigh Valley,” said Jones.
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival is the Lehigh Valley’s Professional Equity Theatre hosted on the campus of DeSales University. Season Subscriptions for the Summer 2025 Season will go on-sale to current subscribers on November 14, followed by an additional campaign beginning in January 2025 open to all patrons to subscribe for the best savings and seats before single tickets go on sale to the public in February 2025.
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, the official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, features acclaimed actors from Broadway, television, and film, and is the summer home to over 200 artists from around the country, including winners and nominees of the Tony, Obie, Emmy, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Jefferson, and Barrymore Awards.
The 2025 Summer Season—
“Play On!” Community Tour: May 30 to June 15, various locations TBA.
Much Ado About Nothing
By William Shakespeare
On the Main Stage:
The Producers: June 11 to June 29
Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan. Music and Lyrics by Mel Brooks
Hamlet: July 9 to August 3
By William Shakespeare
in repertory with:
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead: July 17 to August 2
By Tom Stoppard
In the Schubert Theatre:
A Co-production with Theater Horizon
Penelope: May 28 to June 8
Music and Lyrics by Alex Bechtel. Book by Alex Bechtel, Grace McClean, and Eva Steinmetz.
A Raisin in the Sun: June 25 to July 13
By Lorraine Hansberry
“Extreme Shakespeare”
Timon of Athens – July 23 to August 3
By William Shakespeare
Children’s Theatre Productions:
The Princess and The Frog Prince: July 4 to August 2
Schubert Theatre
Adapted by Jason King Jones
Shakespeare for Kids (S4K) presents Hamlet: July 23 to August 2
Main Stage
By Erin Sheffield
S4K Mini Tour: July 25, 26, 30, and 31. Locations TBA at a later date.
The Festival will host its annual Community Day event on Saturday, June 28, 2025. The event will take place on the mall and in front of the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts at DeSales University.
2025 Season Play Descriptions:
Penelope
Music and Lyrics by Alex Bechtel. Book by Alex Bechtel, Grace McClean, and Eva Steinmetz.
One Woman. One Mic. One Epic Night with Odysseus’ Wife PENELOPE.
No more waiting in the wings—Penelope takes center stage, and she’s got some things to say. With bourbon in hand, she grabs the mic to deliver her side of the story, recounting her twenty-year wait on the small island of Ithaca while her husband, Odysseus, was off playing hero.
This witty musical flips the script on the dutiful wife history wants you to believe in—Penelope’s done being a footnote in her husband’s epic; this time, she’s writing her own odyssey. With soulful songs, razor-sharp storytelling, and an onstage band doubling as her modern-day Greek chorus, Penelope transforms the tale you thought you knew into a solo cabaret act like no other. It’s raw, fiery, and fiercely original as she steps out of the shadows to set the record straight, and she’s not holding back.
This isn’t just a retelling; it’s a revolution.
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The Producers
Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan. Music and Lyrics by Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks’ Hilarious Love Letter to Broadway
From the zany comedic genius of Mel Brooks comes The Producers, the musical that redefined Broadway comedy! Join Max Bialystock, a washed-up Broadway producer, and Leo Bloom, his neurotic accountant, as they cook up the most outrageous get-rich-quick scheme in showbiz history: stage the worst musical ever, pocket the investors’ cash, and run. What could possibly go wrong? Everything—hilariously!
Adapted from Brooks’ 1967 film, this laugh-a-minute romp features larger-than-life characters, wickedly funny double entendres, and splashy show-stopping musical numbers. With a truly hysterical book co-written by Brooks and Thomas Meehan, The Producers proudly proclaims itself an “equal opportunity offender,” skewering Broadway traditions with enough chutzpah to fill Times Square!
It’s Mel Brooks at his absolute best—bawdy, irreverent, and satirical—delivered with his signature style that’ll leave you howling in the aisles!
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A Raisin in the Sun
By Lorraine Hansberry
A Landmark of American Theatre That Still Resonates Today
The members of the Younger family dream bigger than the cramped apartment where they live on the south side of Chicago. When a life-changing insurance check arrives, three generations are suddenly given the chance to turn their hopes into reality. Walter longs to be his own boss, Beneatha dreams of becoming a doctor, and Mama Younger envisions a home where they can finally flourish. As they navigate the complex landscape of 1950s America, the Younger family discovers that unity, resilience, and love can overcome even the toughest challenges in their pursuit of a better life.
A Raisin in the Sun is a landmark of American Theatre history. Lorraine Hansberry’s powerful voice is an essential thread in the fabric of this country’s shared cultural narrative, and this production reaffirms PSF’s commitment to sharing stories that more deeply investigate what it means to be American.
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Hamlet
By William Shakespeare
“The time is out of joint….”
Grief twists the mind and conjures ghosts—but when the spirit of Hamlet’s father appears, he speaks not of madness, but of murder. In the shadowed halls of Elsinore, Hamlet grapples with a haunting revelation: his mother has married his uncle, and his father’s death was no accident. As he pulls at the tangled threads of his broken family, a web of deceit and betrayal unravels, leading him into a storm of moral conflict. What follows is a relentless struggle between revenge and redemption, as Hamlet’s pursuit of truth threatens to destroy everything he holds dear.
Shakespeare’s masterpiece delves into the depths of human thought, revealing the darkness that lies beneath loyalty, love, and justice. Experience the pulse-pounding tension and psychological intrigue that have made this play endure for centuries.
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Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead
By Tom Stoppard
The absurdly funny comedy about Shakespeare’s famous tragedy
Lost in a Shakespearean drama they barely understand, two glorified extras from Hamlet stumble into the spotlight. Watch as our hapless heroes flip coins (which mysteriously keep landing heads), ponder the meaning of life (spoiler: they don’t figure it out), and wonder if they’re actually the main characters in someone else’s tragedy. Occasionally, the “real” play crashes their existential party, sending them into a panic of “Wait, which one am I again?”
Tom Stoppard’s brilliant Tony Award-winning comedy flips the Danish prince’s story sideways. It’s tragically hilarious, philosophically ridiculous, and utterly unmissable!
Catch it in repertory with Hamlet for the full experience —double the Denmark, double the existential crisis! No knowledge of Hamlet required, though seeing both shows may answer the question “What the heck was happening in the other play?” Or not. We make no promises.
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Timon of Athens
By William Shakespeare
“Fortune’s the fool’s best friend.”
Timon of Athens, once the life of every party and generous benefactor, finds himself abandoned when his fortune runs dry. Betrayed by those he trusted most, his legendary generosity turns to seething rage, transforming him from Athens’ favorite host to its most dangerous outcast. As his fury builds, the city trembles before a man with nothing left to lose.
Performed “Extreme Shakespeare” style—actors arrive with lines learned, rehearse on their own, and open within days. No directors. No designers. Just pure adrenaline and raw talent unleashed on Shakespeare’s blistering commentary on wealth and loyalty.
Don’t miss your chance to experience one of Shakespeare’s lesser-produced masterpieces—this might be your only opportunity to witness Timon of Athens live!
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