The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre

Through the engagement with and performance of Shakespeare’s text using a unique artistic methodology, we create matchless and transformative experiences that empower audiences of all ages to expand and challenge their worldview. 

Education

All students need opportunities worthy of their promise. They need experiences that empower them to push outside their comfort zones, become powerful communicators, thinking intensively and imaginatively, enlarging their minds and world, through immersion in distant and difficult texts, and feel woven into the fabric of the human experience. Many students in our area don't have access to experiences that ignite passion, challenge their understanding of self, and provide them for a lifetime of further inquiry and success. Regardless of where our students come from, we are committed to equalizing access to engagement in the transcendent power of performing the works of William Shakespeare.

The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre was founded as The Red Heel Theatre in 1989, initially focusing on classic works of English theatre. In 1993, Carmen Khan became the Artistic Director of Red Heel and in 1996 focused the company's efforts on the works of Shakespeare, renaming it The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival. Since that time, The Festival has produced 59 plays, reached nearly 100,000 High School students and nearly 110,000 adult audience members.