PA Shakespeare Festival (PSF) will mark its 35th anniversary with its 2026 summer season May 27 to Aug, 2, 2026.

PSF, celebrating an historic convergence of milestones: its 30th year as the official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; 25th anniversary of its educational WillPower Tour, and the United States’ Semiquincentennial, has announced its upcoming season of nine productions with the theme “Legends and Legacy.” The festival takes place at Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, Avenue, Center Valley.

“Our season celebrates legends of American culture, from rock ‘n’ roll icons to Shakespeare, Austen, and Wilson,” says PSF Artistic Director Jason King Jones. “Through these legends, we examine both the legacy that brought us here and the legacy we establish for the future.”

The season lineup includes August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson,” directed by Pulitzer Prize-winner James Ijames; the musical “Million Dollar Quartet”; “The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged”; an “Extreme Shakespeare” production of “Coriolanus,” and Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” presented in repertory with Ken Ludwig’s new Sherlock Holmes’ comedy “Moriarty.”

PSF season subscriptions go on sale Nov. 17.

“The Piano Lesson” opens the Festival, running May 27 to June 14 in the Schubert Theater.

Wilson’s Pulitzer and Tony-winning masterwork unfolds in 1936 Pittsburgh, where the Charles family struggles over an heirloom piano carved with the faces of their enslaved ancestors.

The production will be directed by James Ijames, who won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for his play “Fat Ham,” a modern adaption of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” which was nominated for five Tony Awards, including best play.

“Million Dollar Quartet,” the musical inspired by a 1956 impromptu jam session by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, runs June 10 to 28 on the Main Stage.

“Million Dollar Quartet” will be directed by Jim Helsinger, Orlando Shakespeare Theater Artistic Director.

“The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged,” written by Jessica Bedford, Kathryn MacMillan, Charlotte Northeast and Meghan Winch, will run June 24 to July 12 in the Schubert Theatre.

The 2019 play takes audiences on a whirlwind tour through Austin’s novels, including “Pride and Prejudice,” “Sense and Sensibility” and “Emma,” condensed into 80 minutes.

The classic tragedy of star-crossed lovers “Romeo and Juliet,” July 8 to Aug. 7 on the Main Stage, will be directed by Jones.

“Moriarty” is Ludwig’s new comedy that brings back Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, as well as criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty, who are caught up in an international web of spies, blackmail and deception. “Moriarty,” July 16 to Aug. 1 on the Main Stage, will be directed by Festival veteran Matt Pfeiffer.

“Coriolanus,” Shakespeare’s tragedy on the politics of power, July 22 to Aug. 2, Schubert Theatre, is a premier and advances PSF’s progress toward completing the Shakespearean canon.

Festival family programming includes the “Play On!” Community Tour which will bring Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” free to regional audiences May 29 to June 14; “Sheila the Magical,” a new play by Jones, which continues the story from last summer’s “The Princess and the Frog Prince,” July 3 to Aug. 1, Schubert Theatre, and “Shakespeare for Kids,” which explores “Romeo and Juliet,” July 22 to Aug. 1, Main Stage and in community libraries.

PA Shakespeare Festival 2026 season information: 610-282-9455; https://pashakespeare.org/

“Curtain Rises” is a column about the theater, stage shows, the actors in them and the directors and artists who make them happen. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com