About us
The Scranton Shakespeare Festival is currently preparing its 8th season of offering free professional theatre to the public. SSF is a nonprofit, government-recognized 501(c)3 organization founded by Michael Bradshaw Flynn alongside a board of local community members and theatre professionals hailing from the Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) region.
IT ALL started...
back in 2011, when Scranton native, Michael Bradshaw Flynn concieved the idea to organize a free public performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream in Scranton's historic Nay Aug Park.
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Nearly 1,000 people made their way to the park to enjoy an afternoon of theatre. The production team was thrilled with the response and determined to continue, thus, the festival was born.
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Since then...
the festival has grown year by year.
The programming still has an emphasis on Shakespeare but now also includes a variety of contemporary plays and musicals and immersive productions like Damn Yankees at PNC Field and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying at The Marketplace at Steamtown.
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SEE IT NOW,
BEFORE IT GOES...
SSF proudly provides a safe and creative space in which artists and company members can develop
original work. The festival is a great place to see brand new productions.
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More and more, shows that begin at SSF go on to enjoy further development and performances
elsewhere, including...
With a little help
from our friends...
SSF is made possible by the generosity and sponsorship of local businesses and institutions, the financial support from local and national grants (including the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts) and the dedication of our team hailing from across the globe.
The festival also owes much of its success to the patronage, donations and continued support of its community; for that we thank you.
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If you are considering joining our donor list, please click here.
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Or, if you'd like to join our friendly team of volunteers, click here
"How like a dream is this I see and hear!
Love, lend me patience to forbear awhile."
Two Gentlemen of Verona