Lantern Theater Company


Lantern Theater Company is a not-for-profit regional theater founded in 1994 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Led by founding artistic director Charles McMahon and managing director Anne Shuff, the Lantern produces a mix of classics, modern, and original works for the stage, an audience enrichment series that provides an insider's look at each production, and Illumination, its Barrymore Award-winning education program that engages local students and adults in the world of theater and nurtures their artistic expression through in-school residencies, student matinee performances, and teaching artist training for after school programs.
Lantern Theater Company has been in residence at St. Stephen's Theater at 10th and Ludlow Streets in Center City since 1996, managing the performance space and developing it into an affordable multi-purpose performing arts venue.
In 2014 the company was criticized for its use of "yellowface" and "reappropriation" in their production of Julius Caesar. The production was set in feudal Japan, yet employed no actors of Asian descent. Local Japanese actor Makoto Hirano voiced his concerns, which were echoed by others in the Asian-American performing arts community.

Awards and honors

Philadelphia Weekly named the Lantern the "Best Theatre Company" in 2008, describing the company's selection of plays as "impressively diverse in genre and style." Since the inception of the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater in 1995, the Lantern has received 71 nominations and 15 awards, including eight nominations for Outstanding Overall Production of Play over the past seven years - more than any other theater company in the Philadelphia region. It also received the 2009 Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service.
Barrymore Award wins: