Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival Theater Tent

The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (HVSF) is a non-profit professional theater company based in

Garrison, New York Garrison is a hamlet in Putnam County, New York, United States. It is part of the town of Philipstown, on the east side of the Hudson River, across from the United States Military Academy at West Point. The Garrison Metro-North Railroad ...

. The festival runs a roughly twelve-week repertory season each year, operating under a large open-air theater tent. Its productions attract a total audience of about 50,000 from the Hudson Valley, New York City, and 40 US states. HVSF also performs

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's works and live theater throughout the tri-state area by touring. The company has limited runs of its most popular programs through its "HVSF On The Road" series and brings student-oriented productions and education programs to about 50,000 elementary, middle, and high school students and teachers each year. HVSF's arts education programs also include training for early-career theater artists by way of its Conservatory Company, professional development for educators, and free audience engagement offerings before and after performances throughout the summer.

History

HVSF was founded by Melissa Stern and Terry O’Brien in September 1987 with an outdoor production of ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' at

Manitoga Manitoga was the estate and modernist home of industrial designer Russel Wright (1904–1976) and his wife Mary Small Einstein Wright. It is located along New York State Route 9D south of Garrison, New York, a short distance north of the Bea ...

, home of industrial designer

Russel Wright Russel Wright (April 3, 1904 – December 21, 1976) was an American industrial designer. His best-selling ceramic dinnerware was credited with encouraging the general public to enjoy creative modern design at table with his many other ranges of fu ...

, in Garrison, New York. The following year, Boscobel House and Gardens agreed to host HVSF's mainstage season on the estate's expansive grounds, and that summer's production of Shakespeare's ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...

'' was performed under a tent overlooking the Hudson River. In 1994, the festival added a second show to its season and began hands-on, performance-driven education programs within area schools. In 2004, HVSF began to tour productions to middle and high schools. In 2006, HVSF acquired a custom-designed, open-air theater tent with seating for 540. The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival was the subject of a one-hour documentary and two hour film of a performance of ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...

'' which premiered on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

affiliate

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

(Channel 13 in New York City) on September 18, 2008. The program also aired on WLIW (Channel 21 on Long Island). More than 500,000 patrons have been served since HVSF's first season in 1987. Terry O’Brien led the theater for 27 years, directing more than 30 productions, and stepped down as Artistic Director in December 2013. After a search for his successor, HVSF's Board of Directors appointed Davis McCallum as Artistic Director in May 2014. In 2016, the festival produced a community-driven production of Thornton Wilder's ''

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 throug ...

'' with a cast of about 40 citizen actors from the Hudson Valley region, directed by John Christian Plummer. In 2017, the festival mounted its first new plays: ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

'' by

Kate Hamill Kate Hamill is an American actress and playwright. Hamill is known for writing and acting in innovative, contemporary adaptations of classic novels for the stage, including Jane Austen’s ''Sense and Sensibility'' and ''Pride and Prejudice'' an ...

(adapted from the novel by

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

), and

Lauren Gunderson Lauren Gunderson (born February 5, 1982) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and short story author, born in Atlanta. She lives in San Francisco, where she teaches playwriting. Gunderson was recognized by ''American Theatre'' magazine as A ...

's ''The Book of Will''. In 2021, the festival mounted the 2013 James IJames play The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington.

Location

With its plays performed in an open-air theater tent on the grounds of the Boscobel, the festival is known for its backdrop. The stage, a rough patch of dirt that is on the same level as the first few rows of the audience, recedes into lawns with a view of the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

and

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

in the distance. The company uses the vast open space behind the stage as scenery for the plays. According to

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 to ...

of ''The New York Times'', "nature and Shakespeare are the stars" in this festival. The company received a gift of a land parcel of 50 acres in

Garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

in August 2020 and will move to that location permanently in time for the 2022 season. HVSF plans to build a permanent open air structure that will preserve the river views it is famous for at its current Boscobel location.

Recognition

The festival was named among The New York Times' "50 Essential Summer Festivals" in 2016, was Hudson Valley Magazine's 2016 Editors’ Pick for Best Summer Theater, and was nominated for a Drama League Award for its 2015 production of ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. It produces classic and new works with an economy of style, focusing on script, actors and audience with the Hudson River and

Hudson Highlands The Hudson Highlands are mountains on both sides of the Hudson River in New York state lying primarily in Putnam County on its east bank and Orange County on its west. They continue somewhat to the south in Westchester County and Rockland County ...

as its set and setting.

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

hails it as, "The most purely enjoyable summer Shakespeare festival in America," while The New York Times comments, "If anyone wonders about the future of live theater or asks where the audience is, the answer is 'Under that tent." It is listed as a "Major Festival" in the book ''Shakespeare Festivals Around the World'' by Marcus D. Gregio (Editor), 2004.

Education programs

In addition to its summer productions, the festival sponsors year-round education programs to about 50,000 students and teachers annually. These programs include in-school residencies and theater arts workshops for students, resource workshops for educators, a fall touring production for students in grades K-5, a spring touring production for students in grades 6-12, its annual Shakespeare Summer Camp for ages 8–16, and the Teachers' Shakespeare Institute. HVSF's Conservatory Company, a performance based training program for 6 - 8 early career actors, offers on- and off-stage opportunities to work alongside the festival's acting company.

Plays performed

*1987: A Midsummer Night's Dream *1988: As You Like It *1989: Twelfth Night *1990: Much Ado About Nothing *1991: Romeo and Juliet *1992: The Taming of the Shrew *1993: The Merry Wives of Windsor *1994: Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors *1995: The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona *1996: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labour's Lost *1997: Tartuffe, As You Like It *1998: A Winter's Tale, Much Ado About Nothing *1999: Titus Andronicus, Twelfth Night *2000: Measure for Measure, Taming of the Shrew *2001: Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet *2002: Henry V, The Comedy of Errors *2003: All's Well That Ends Well, Antony and Cleopatra *2004: Macbeth, The Merry Wives of Windsor *2005: The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona *2006: A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Rivals *2007: Richard III, As You Like It *2008: Cymbeline, Twelfth Night, Shakespeare Abridged *2009: Pericles, Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare Abridged *2010: Troilus and Cressida, The Taming of the Shrew, Bomb-itty of Errors *2011: Hamlet, The Comedy of Errors, Around the World in 80 Days *2012: Love's Labour's Lost, Romeo and Juliet, The 39 Steps *2013: King Lear, All's Well That Ends Well, The Three Musketeers *2014: Othello, Two Gentleman of Verona, The Liar *2015: The Winter's Tale, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Arabian Nights, An Iliad *2016: As You Like It, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, Our Town, So Please You (devised clown show) *2017: Twelfth Night,

's ''Pride and Prejudice'', The Book of Will, Love's Labour's Lost, The General from America *2018: ''Richard II'' '', The Taming of the Shrew'' '', The Heart of Robin Hood'', ''Rip Van Winkle; Or, Cut the Old Moon Into Stars'', ''The Sea-Maid’s Music'' *2019: Much Ado About Nothing, Cymbeline, Cyrano, Into the Woods *2021: Macbeth, The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, The Tempest *2022: Romeo & Juliet; Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play; Where We Belong

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.hvshakespeare.org Festivals in New York (state) Recurring events established in 1987 Shakespeare festivals in the United States