For the 25th anniversary season of The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University, and as an homage to the late Father Gerard J. Schubert, PSF founder, to whom the 2016 season is dedicated, the Lehigh Valley Press Focus asked a few of the Actors Equity Association actors appearing at PSF this season to talk about their experiences at the annual festival in Center Valley for “Profiles in the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.”

What are your memories of Father Schubert?

“My dad ran a theater in Lansing, Michigan, for close to 30 years. It takes great passion and love to keep an organization for the arts alive and thriving in a small community. I saw it my whole life.

“What Father Schubert created here is a beautiful thing. The respect I have for him knows no bounds. His desire to bring an astounding level of talent and art to the [Lehigh] Valley is remarkable.

“That I get to play on the stage he decided 25 years ago was needed here is extraordinary.

“There are many forgotten people in the world of theater who have a lasting footprint on my career. This summer, I feel his legacy, and love that he did what he knew was right.

“I met my wife here. We are spending our 20th year together here.

“I’m sure he is smiling down and sending nothing but good thoughts. I will not be surprised if he pops in one night during a séance in ‘Blithe Spirit.’”

Ian Merrill Peakes (Charles, “Blithe Spirit”; Petruchio, “The Taming of the Shrew”) 10th PSF production (“Much Ado About Nothing,” “Othello,” “Henry IV,” among others). Delighted to be back where he met his wife 20 years ago. Upcoming: Charles III at ACT in San Francisco, Seattle Rep and The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. Two Best of Denver Awards, and nominated for six Barrymores (won three), four Helen Hayes Awards, and the winner of the 2003 F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Artist.