Led by founding artistic director Charles McMahon and executive director Stacy Dutton, 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.

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.

Since the inception of the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater in 1995, the Lantern has received 117 nominations and 22 awards, including nine 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.