This summer, join us in a forest where love gets messy, fast, then travel to a small town, not unlike our own, where nothing much happens until you realize everything does.

With William Shakespeare’s As You Like It and Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, the American Shakespeare Center brings these two worlds into repertory, one company, two stories, all under shared light.

Here’s your first look at the artists bringing it all to life.

Returning Directors. New Perspectives.

This summer, the Blackfriars Playhouse welcomes back two artists who know it’s not just as a space, but as a place where stories come to life under shared light.

  • José Zayas returns to direct As You Like It, following his recent work at ASC, directing Macbeth and The Importance of Being Earnest. His productions bring clarity to language and a strong sense of play, creating worlds that feel immediate, active, and alive.
  • K.P. Powell returns to direct Our Town, after work on the Blackfriars stage, including directing Romeo and Juliet, and performing as Macbeth in Macbeth, and Jack Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest, where he performed under Zayas’s direction. As both a director and performer at ASC, Powell brings a deep understanding of the Playhouse and a grounded approach that centers the connection between actor and audience.

These two returning directors shape a single ensemble moving between Arden and Grover’s Corners, building a repertory season where wild hearts and quiet moments live side by side, and where seeing both stories deepens your experience of each.

One Ensemble, Two Worlds

Repertory theatre asks actors to move fast, think sharper, and trust each other completely.

This summer’s ensemble does just that, shifting from the wild wordplay of As You Like It to the stillness and simplicity of Our Town, within the same week.

Familiar faces return alongside an exciting ASC debut, forming a company built on connection, flexibility, and the kind of chemistry you can feel from the stage.

  • Geoffrey Warren Barnes II* — Touchstone (As You Like It), Howie Webb, Joe Stoddard, & Farmer McCarty (Our Town)
  • Summer England* — Rosalind (As You Like It), Mrs. Gibbs & “Lady in Box” (Our Town)
  • Nick Ericksen — Orlando (As You Like It), George Gibbs (Our Town)
  • Morgan Rose Ford (ASC Debut) — Audrey (As You Like It), Mrs. Webb & Constable Warren (Our Town)
  • Angela Iannone* — Duke Frederick & Adam (As You Like It), Simon Stimson & Professor Willard (Our Town)
  • Hannah Nguyen — Phoebe & Charles (As You Like It), Woman in the Balcony & Rebecca Gibbs (Our Town)
  • Aidan O’Reilly* — Jaques (As You Like It), Mr. Webb (Our Town)
  • Ronald Román-Meléndez* — Oliver & Silvius (As You Like It), Stage Manager (Our Town)
  • Isabel Sanchez — Celia (As You Like It),  Emily Webb (Our Town)
  • Christopher Seiler* — Duke Senior & Corin (As You Like It), Dr. Gibbs & “Belligerent Man” (Our Town)

Plan Your Summer in Staunton, VA

Step into the Blackfriars Playhouse this summer and you’ll find yourself somewhere else entirely.

Maybe it’s the Forest of Arden, where comedy runs wild with moments that remind us sometimes you have to lose yourself to find yourself, or maybe it’s Grover’s Corners, where a simple moment suddenly means everything.

Either way, you’re part of it because at the ASC, the lights stay on. The actors can see you. You can see them. And the story happens together.

Opening & Preview Dates

As You Like It

Our Town

Whether it’s your first visit or your favorite tradition, this is the summer to lean in.