Step into an era of classic storytelling with the American Shakespeare Center's 2025 line-up at Blackfriars Playhouse. Featuring timeless works like 'Little Women' and 'Sense and Sensibility,' alongside Shakespearean masterpieces such as 'King Lear' and 'The Comedy of Errors,' this season promises a rich tapestry of drama, humor, and heartfelt narratives. Each performance, brought to life by a talented ensemble, immerses audiences in the historic charm of Staunton, VA, inviting theater lovers to explore the depths of human emotion and connection.

Shakespearean Splendor and Classic Narratives: A Journey Through the American Shakespeare Center's 2025 Season

Step into the immersive world of theater in 2025 at the American Shakespeare Center's Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, VA. Experience a captivating lineup with productions of 'Little Women,' 'King Lear,' 'The Comedy of Errors,' 'Sense and Sensibility,' and 'The Winter's Tale.' Each play brings a unique vision to the stage, led by a talented ensemble of performers who breathe new life into classic tales. Join us for a journey through time with stories of love, tragedy, and redemption.

A Theatrical Odyssey: Shakespeare and Austen Come Alive in 2025

The American Shakespeare Center invites theater enthusiasts to journey through time and classic literature with its stellar 2025 lineup at the Blackfriars Playhouse. From the emotional depth of 'Little Women' to the comedic genius of 'The Comedy of Errors,' this season promises a diverse range of performances. Featuring talented artists like Angela Iannone and Summer England, the season will captivate audiences with tales of love, betrayal, and redemption. Join us as we explore the rich world of classic storytelling brought to life on stage.

A Renaissance of Classics: American Shakespeare Center's 2025 Playhouse Season

Journey into a tale of jealousy, loss, and ultimate redemption with Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. King Leontes’ suspicions lead to tragedy, but a miraculous twist opens the path to forgiveness.

The Winter’s Tale 2025

American Shakespeare Center's Blackfriars Playhouse

Step into the world of Jane Austen’s beloved characters as the American Shakespeare Center brings Sense and Sensibility to life on stage.

Sense and Sensibility 2025

Buckle up for Shakespeare’s most hilarious family reunion at the Blackfriars Playhouse!

The Comedy of Errors 2025

Prepare to be swept into one of Shakespeare’s most powerful tragedies, where family and power collide in a tale of betrayal, madness, and redemption.

King Lear 2025

Travel back to Civil War-era America and step into the lives of the March family at the Blackfriars Playhouse.

Little Women 2025

The ultimate tale of transformation, A Christmas Carol transports miserly Ebenezer Scrooge high above the streets of Victorian London, where Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future haunt his dreams…accomplishing in one fateful night what a lifetime of grasping and greed could not do: the warming of his cold, cold heart.

Join ASC this December for our favorite holiday tradition—an annual production of Charles Dickens’ beloved classic, a festive treat to be enjoyed by families and friends of all ages.


A Christmas Carol 2024

Step into the witty and wonderful world of The Importance of Being Earnest with our delightful special edition of Bard & Bites, “An Earnest-ly Good Picnic” – a culinary experience inspired by the very food featured in the show! In collaboration with Heritage Bakery & Cafe, we’ve crafted a special treat that even Algernon Moncrieff himself would adore.

Bard & Bites 2024

Embark on a delightful journey of mischief, pranks, and folly with The Merry Wives of Windsor, a play that, according to urban legend, was inspired by Queen Elizabeth’s request for a tale featuring the eccentric Sir John Falstaff in love. However, in this uproarious comedy, rather than finding Falstaff in love, we find him entangled in the shrewd schemes of two clever Windsor wives who unite to outwit one of Shakespeare’s most endearing scoundrels. Set against the backdrop of Elizabethan domestic life and featuring an eclectic ensemble of zany characters, this irresistible comic confection weaves together romance and farce to create a joyful story of community and family.


The Merry Wives of Windsor 2024

Looking for the perfect way to kick off a theatre-filled weekend in Staunton, VA? Head over to the Blackfriars Playhouse from 5-6 PM on Fridays during most show runs throughout the year to catch an engaging series of lectures, workshops, and panels presented on our beautiful stage.

Friday Night Lights On

Step into an ominous world of witches, warfare, murder, and madness this season at the Blackfriars Playhouse with Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a relentless examination of the darkest depths of the human condition. This twisted tale begins with a supernatural prophecy that sets in motion a bloody course of events for Macbeth and his Lady as they descend into treachery and turmoil. Fueled by their own ambition and encouraged by haunting visitations from three otherworldly figures, the Macbeths cling desperately to their ill-gotten throne, and their sanity, as battle looms and they must face the tragic consequences of their tyranny and betrayal.


Macbeth 2024

Playhouse Tours are $10 per person and are generally available Wednesdays-Fridays at 2:00 PM, and Fridays-Saturdays at 10:00 AM. (PLEASE NOTE: dates and times may vary based on student matinees and the overall Playhouse schedule). Tours last about 45 minutes.

You will meet your tour guide outside the Blackfriars Playhouse at 10 S Market Street. Tour guides will be present starting 10 minutes prior to the start of the tour.

Year Round

Become part of ASC’s repertory! Join in the fun and perform on the Blackfriars stage along with ASC Education Artists and other special guests. “No Kidding” programming happens throughout the year, where adult theatre lovers meet to read, rehearse, and perform classic plays.

“No Kidding” Programs for Adults

Oscar Wilde’s brilliant and wicked The Importance of Being Earnest, is a comedic masterpiece that unravels a web of mistaken identities, romantic entanglements, and clever deceptions. When two young gentlemen decide to adopt fictitious personas to escape the constraints of societal expectations, a whirlwind of hilarious misunderstandings ensues. As love interests collide and secret pasts are revealed, Wilde weaves a delightful tapestry of wit, absurdity, and biting satire.


The Importance of Being Earnest 2024

This internationally acclaimed (and hilarious) [and beloved] distillation of all 38 of Shakespeare’s plays is returning to the Blackfriars Playhouse!

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] (again)

ASC has partnered with local wineries and breweries for a special pre-show experience. Enjoy a tasting of the best libations in the area in our upper lobby on select performance dates throughout the year. These tastings include a limited edition souvenir glass to take with you.

Shakespeare Uncorked

Join ASC on Tuesday, May 21 at 7:30 PM for an exciting staged reading performance of the 1798 play Adelinda: A Comedy by Hannah Brand, a play from Hedgepig’s Expand the Canon lists and performed in partnership with Mary Baldwin University. Come enjoy a rare opportunity to see this underproduced treasure of a play thanks to our partners at Hedgepig Ensemble! This event is FREE but we do require an advanced RSVP.

Adelinda, an Expand the Canon play reading

Band Candy isn’t just your average concert—it’s a powerful fundraiser with a unique twist! While you’re enjoying the electrifying performances and toe-tapping tunes at the Blackfriars Playhouse, you’re also contributing to a vital cause: the repair and maintenance of ASC’s cherished musical instruments.

Band Candy 2024

Join us in celebrating Shakespeare’s 460th birthday with our annual birthday bash on Saturday, April 20, 2024 from 10am to 1:30pm at the Blackfriars Playhouse (Drama Club will perform on the stage and the rest of the event will take place outside on Market Street).

Shakespeare’s Birthday Party

In this beguiling comedy, no one ends as they began. Magic-wielding fairies, yearning lovers, and foolish clowns swap one role for another as they romp through an enchanted wood—with their antics set down in some of Shakespeare’s most glorious and indelible words. “Lord, what fools these mortals be”….and how we love them!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” – Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice

Hail Caesar, home from the wars…what darker fate awaits him? Suspicion, conspiracy and power lust boil up in a rush to murder in Shakespeare’s gripping political drama. As friendships are sundered and loyalties tested, guilt pursues the killers to their dark ends. “O judgement! thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason…”

American Shakespeare Center

Jun 5 - Aug 2, 2025

The Winter’s Tale 2025

May 1 - Aug 2, 2025

Sense and Sensibility 2025

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