The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival (PSF) kicks off its 33rd season with “The Play That Goes Wrong,” May 29 to June 16, Main Stage Theatre, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University.

The comedy is one of nine productions chosen by PSF co-leaders Jason King Jones and Casey William Gallagher for the 2024 season’s theme of the “Persistence of Love.”

“Whether it’s love for your family, your community, your partner or an idea, love persists and always seeks to make the world a better place,” says Jones, PSF Artistic Director.

“This theme is reflected in each play or musical we’ve selected. We hope the ‘Persistence of Love’ season fosters empathy and ignites meaningful conversations through the medium of theater,” Jones says.

“The Play That Goes Wrong” marks a new collaboration between PSF and 1812 Productions, Philadelphia’s all-comedy theater company.

1812 Productions’ hit production of “The Play That Goes Wrong” made its regional premiere in Philadelphia in 2023. The comedy, described as a hybrid of Monty Python and Sherlock Holmes, was written in 2012 by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre Company. It opened in 2014 in London and won Best New Comedy at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards. It opened on Broadway in 2017.

After its successful run in Philadelphia, some of Philadelphia’s funniest stage performers reunite for the show at PSF, including Sean Close, Melanie Cotton, Scott Greer, Justin Jain, Anthony Lawton, Eli Lynn, Karen Peakes and Ian Merrill Peakes.

Jennifer Childs, Producing Artistic Director for 1812 Productions, directs the production.

In “The Play That Goes Wrong,” a drama society is putting on a performance of a 1920s murder mystery play. Disaster continually befalls the cast. There’s an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines).

A note to audiences: There are gunshots, flames and smoke effects, loud noises and sound effects from beginning to end.

1812 Productions was founded in 1997 by Childs and Peter Pryor, two long-time friends and artistic collaborators with a dedication to comedy, theater and Philadelphia artists.

In 1998, the company premiered with “The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged)” and was named “Best of Philly - Theater in Infancy” by Philadelphia Magazine.

1812 Productions is said to be the only professional theater company in the United States dedicated to comedy. The troupe has continued to combine original work with plays and devised theater pieces by established and emerging playwrights and artists, producing three main stage shows and several limited engagement comedy events each season.

There will be a Director’s Dinner with Childs, 5 p.m. June 12, and a talk-back with the actors after June 6 and 13 performances.

The 2 p.m. June 8 performance has open-captioning for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing and audio descriptions for those who are blind or visually-impaired.

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, which runs May 29 to Aug. 4, includes three Shakespeare plays, “The Comedy of Errors,” “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “Cymbeline”; two musicals, “The Color Purple” and “The Last Five Years;” and two children’s productions, “Winnie-the-Pooh & Friends “and “Shakespeare for Kids.”

“The Play That Goes Wrong,” 7:30 p.m. May 29, 30, 31; June 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14; 2 p.m. June 1, 2, 9, 16; 6:30 p.m. June 4, 11; 2, 7:30 p.m. June 8, 15, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Main Stage Theatre, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, 2755 Station Avenue, Center Valley. 610-282-9455, https://pashakespeare.org/

Pines reopening postponed:

Pines Dinner Theatre of Allentown has announced that “Footloose the Musical,” scheduled to open June 1 at the theater’s new location at the former Pistachio Bar & Grille, Shops at Cedar Point, 315 S. Cedar Crest Boulevard, Allentown, has been postponed to later this summer. Renovations are taking longer than anticipated, according to Pines’ officials. The dinner theater had been at 448 N. 17th St., Allentown, at the Allentown Fairgrounds for 14 years.

“At this point, we don’t have a concrete opening date set,” says Pines music director Stacy Bechtel.

The opening date of “Footloose the Musical” will be announced on the Pines’ web site: https://www.pinesdinnertheatre.com/

“Curtain Rises” is a column about the theater, stage shows, the actors in them and the directors and artists who make them happen. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com