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. For updates and news on the 2025 Summer Season visit: PaShakespeare.org.

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: By William Shakespeare, July 9 to August 3, in repertory with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, by Tom Stoppard, July 17 to August 2

 

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 

Timon of Athens – “Extreme Shakespeare”– July 23 to August 3

By William Shakespeare

 

Children’s Theatre Productions:

The Princess and The Frog Prince | Schubert Theatre | July 4 to August 2

Adapted by Jason King Jones

Shakespeare for Kids (S4K) presents Hamlet | Main Stage | July 23 to August 2

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.

 

Artistic Leadership:

JASON KING JONES (Artistic Director) is excited to embark on his third year with PSF. In his first two seasons, Jason expanded the organization’s footprint to include the “Play On!” Community Tour, the launch of Shakespeare 4 Kids to libraries, and Community Day. Prior to moving to the Lehigh Valley with his family, Jason spent ten years at Maryland’s Olney Theatre Center, where he served as Senior Associate Artistic Director and Artistic Director of National Players. In the past twenty-six years Jason directed over seventy-five productions, mentored hundreds of early-career theatre makers, and established various in-school and summer educational programs. He is an Acting Company alumnus, a proud member of the PSF Board, and the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Nonprofit & Business Partners Council. Jason holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from Missouri State and an MFA in Directing from Boston University.

 

CASEY WILLIAM GALLAGHER (Managing Director) has worked at PSF for 26 seasons. Over the years he was a box office intern, a stage management intern, the assistant house manager, box office manager, company manager, assistant producer, director of development and worked directly with PSF Founder Jerry Schubert in the early years of the organization. Since 2004, in his role as general manager and later managing director, he served as the administrative leader of the Festival, working very closely with former Producing Artistic Director Patrick Mulcahy and the box office, business, development, marketing and production departments. Since 2023, Casey is co-leader of the Festival with Artistic Director Jason King Jones. Beyond PSF, Casey was treasurer for the Shakespeare Theatre Association, director of audience services for The People’s Light & Theatre Company, a board member for Civic Theatre of Allentown, a peer panelist for the New Jersey Council on the Arts and a judge for the Greater Philadelphia Barrymore Awards for excellence in theatre.

 

Information provided to TVL:
Tina Louise Slak
Director of Marketing and Public Relations