With news on Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Park celebrating the Bard’s birthday, independent productions ‘Shakespeare R&J’ and ‘Hamlet: The Bad Quarto,’ Rage of the Stage Players 25th Anniversary.

🎭 ICYMI from oSP:

• Interview: Maria Caruso On Her New Projects, Bodiography, the State of the Dance World, and Inspiring the Youth
• Review: Quantum Theatre’s ’10 Out of 12′ Experience Is an Unconventional Love Letter to Theatermakers
• Guest Review:  ‘10 Out of 12′: Immersive Theater Done Right
• Review: Powerful Drama ‘Paradox of Education’ Teaches Hard Lessons of Racism on Campus
• Interview: Pittsburgh Playwright Theatre Premiere Unites Local Artists in ‘Paradox of Education’

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE!

Now is the time for Shakespeare adaptations to take to the stage in Pittsburgh.

🎭 Shakespeare in the Park celebrates a Week of Will for the Bard’s birthday:

7:30 p.m. April 20: 5th annual Puppet Slam, at Glitterbox Theater, 210 W. 8th Ave., Homestead. Live and filmed short puppet performances by local, national, and international artists, inspired by Shakespeare’s plays, poetry, and life, presented with support from the Puppet Slam Network. $5 in advance, $10 at the door.

6 p.m. April 4: Cupcakes and Couplets, at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Oakland; for all ages: Free event, with a special guest appearance by Yvonne Hudson as Mrs. Shakespeare. Join Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks at the CLP Shakespeare statue for sonnets, favorite lines, spontaneous readings, and birthday cheer, plus cupcakes to mark the occasion. Participants are invited to “bring a favorite Shakespeare passage (or just yourself!); a love of sweets and sonnets; and s friend who needs a little poetry.

6 p.m. April 24: A First Folio viewing and a community reading of King Lear at the Carnegie Mellon University Posner Center: CMU Libraries will have on display for the event a very rare copy of the 1623 Folio of Shakespeare’s Complete Works. Gather with fellow theater lovers, scholars, and community members to share the Bard’s epic story of family, power, love, and loss. “No preparation necessary — just come ready to witness greatness.” Free and open to the public.

🎟️ TICKETS AND DETAILS https://www.pittsburghshakespeare.org/

MORE SHAKESPEARE ON THE HORIZON

🎭 ‘SHAKESPEARE R&J’:  A “vibrant, hot-blooded” adaptation of Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare R&J, by Joe Calarco and directed by J. Cody Spellman, “blurs the line between dreams and reality.” The play follows four boys — played by Sam Lander, Silas Bright, Nate Dirksen, and Christopher Rone — in an act of defiance and curiosity against strict constraints, as they act out the forbidden play, Romeo and Juliet. “What starts as playful experimentation emerges as something deeper.” The independent production of Shakespeare R&J is presented as a rental event on City Theatre‘s Mainstage by Julia Production, a reflection of “City Theatre’s mission of fostering an artistic home for the production of contemporary and thought-provoking work,” the production company said in its press release.

🎟️ TICKETS AND DETAILS: Four performances at City Theatre, 1300 Bingham Street, South Side, May 8 – May 10, 2026. Discounts include: under age 30, $24 (call the box office to reserve); senior rush, $28; or early-bird 10% off with code RJNOW (limited time). Call 412-431-2489 or visit https://citytheatrecompany.org/production/107930/shakespeares-r-and-j.

🎭 ‘HAMLET: THE BAD QUARTO’: Before the Hamlet Folios came shorter versions — the First and Second Quarto — of Shakespeare’s most produced and influential play. The title of Q1, in 1603, was The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet Prince of Denmarke, and is considered by many scholars to be not only unauthorized, but may have been pirated from an early theatrical performance. Hamlet: The Bad Quarto is directed by Jeremy Seghers (The Trial), with cast including Ayden Freed as Hamlet, with Johnny Patalano, Joanna Loewe, Brett Sullivan Santry, David Nackman, Andrew Perletti, Ailka Samora, Ryan Rattley, Mike Psenick, Jordan Coury, Lorna Lominac, Steven Gallagher, Andrew Lasswell, and Mathias Vitullo.

🎟️ TICKETS AND DETAILS: At the Richard Rauh Studio Theatre in the basement of Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning, June 19-28, 2026. Tickets go on sale April 23; details TBA.

A WHILE HENCE …

🎭 September 4-6, 2026: South Park Theatre will present an outdoor production of Romeo & Juliet, with “a 1920s-era, Gatsby-esque twist.” Performances may be rescheduled due to inclement weather. southparktheatre.com.

🎭 September 5-October 11, 2026: Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Park brings The Merry Wives of Windsor to a park near you. “This joyful farce gets a flamboyant spin. … Short on cash, Falstaff pursues the purses of two sharp-witted drag queens. …The hunter becomes the hunted in this silly, subversive look at love and marriage.” https://www.pittsburghshakespeare.org/.

ALL THE RAGE: ‘HOOKED!’ READING MARKS COMPANY’S 25 ANNIVERSARY

🎭 The Rage of the Stage Players’ first project to celebrate its 25th anniversary will be a live, in-person dramatized reading of Hooked!, an adaptation inspired by the J.M. Barrie novel “Peter and Wendy,” but with the “grim, violent” twists that are trademarks of James Michael Shoberg, Rage’s founder and resident playwright. Shoberg will serve as narrator for the reading, which features a cast including Greg Crawford. Alyssa Herron, Luke Frederick, Linette Taylor, Max Ferris, Zack Mitrecic, Gered Duke, Aryan Verma, Daniel McNulty, Anthony Babeaux, Vincent Anthony Bombara, Daniel Johnson, Spurthi Reddy, Macy McKnight, Sean Michael Gallaher, Vincent Marshall, Elizabeth Marie Murphy, Carrie L. Shoberg, Rachel Roach, Lily V. Sixx, Amara O’Donnell Neligh and Shawn Davies.

🎟️  TICKETS AND DETAILS: The reading at the Margaret Partee Performing Arts Center, 523 Lincoln Avenue, Bellevue, is 2 p.m. Sunday, April 19, 2026. Tickets are $10 at https://www.rageofthestage.com/tickets/.

A REMINDER THAT LAUGHTER IS ON THE WAY

Opening Thursday, April 9, at City Theatre, The Second City Touring Company invites audiences to Laugh Harder, Not Smarter, a celebration of 65 years of classic sketch comedy and songs, new material, as well as the signature brand of irreverent improv that The Second City is famous for.

🎟️  TICKETS AND DETAILS: At City Theatre, 1300 Bingham Street, South Side, April 9 – 18, 2026. Tickets: https://citytheatrecompany.org/production/101445/second-city-laugh-harder-not-smarter.

🎟️  Reminder: The discount ticket initiative Go See a Show! is ongoing, with 18 performing arts companies and Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama participating. Find tickets at https://www.goseeashowpgh.com/ and read all about via onStage Pittsburgh.

👉 Don’t forget—you can always explore the next two months of performances, organized by date or company, anytime at onStage Pittsburgh.

👉Did we miss your show? Send us your updates at info@onstagepittsburgh.com so we can share them in a future Call Board.

Categories: Arts and Ideas

Tags: independent productions 'Shakespeare R&J' and 'Hamlet: The Bad Quarto, Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Park celebrating the Bard's birthday, Rage of the Stage Players 25th Anniversary