“An aura of grandeur”... is how one patron described the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival on the audience survey distributed during the last weeks of its sixteenth season. After 91 performances of four plays, plus 42 Green Show performances and 46 performances of the children’s show in nine weeks, the aura lingers.

For the second year in a row, the Festival closed solidly in the black, thanks in large part to an 18% increase in subscription sales over 2006. The 1,543 subscriptions represented the highest number of subscriptions sold in five years. Attendance for the season totaled 28,500.

Two of the Festival’s 23 Equity actors, Christopher Patrick Mullen and Greg Wood, performed in their twentieth productions. A total of 150 artists and artisans from 20 states were employed by the Festival, and 176 volunteers contributed 3,375 hours.

The 2007 season, which ran June 2 through August 4, featured The Winter’s Tale and The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, Amadeus by Peter Shaffer, The Mystery of Irma Vep by Charles Ludlam and Winnie the Pooh, adapted by Kristin Sergel.

“High attendance numbers, a balanced budget and excellent reviews -- from our patrons and from the press -- contributed to the Festival’s overall success,” says Patrick Mulcahy, PSF’s producing artistic director. “But it is the individual experiences, the individual stories people tell us that let us know we’re on the right track, and that they’re grateful for the journey with us.”

One single ticket buyer attending The Taming of the Shrew wrote: “It is impossible to compliment PSF enough. Every year is better than the last. Your productions are stupendous. Your comedians are masters of their art. Keep up the fine work.”

The 2007 season featured several additions in programming, including the introduction of Prologues, free pre-show talks with a member of the artistic staff held prior to every performance of a Shakespeare play. An estimated 1,200-1,500 patrons attended the Prologues for The Winter’s Tale and The Taming of the Shrew.

PSF also initiated a “Season Kick-Off” event featuring scenes, songs and skits performed by members of the company in advance of the season opening. “We expanded our programming based on audience responses from the survey we conducted in 2005,” says Casey William Gallagher, general manager. Conducted bi-annually, the survey “gives the audience an opportunity to tell us what’s working and what we can improve on, and gives PSF the opportunity to better serve the audience,” he says.

Linda Lapos and Paul Wirth served as the 2007 Season Sponsors, and the Associate Season Sponsors were: the Harry C. Trexler Trust, The Morning Call and Service Electric Cable TV & Communications.

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University is the Official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth and a professional, not-for-profit theatre company. An independent 501 c 3 organization, PSF receives support from DeSales University and relies on contributions from individuals, government agencies, corporations and foundations. PSF is a constituent of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, and a member of the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia and the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America.