Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival 2017

admin Posted OnMay 25, 2017

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Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival at Boscobel

Artistic Director Davis McCallum and Managing Director Kate Liberman of Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (HVSF) recently announced their slate of productions for their 31^st season – including two new plays – for the Festival’s 2017 summer season, running in repertory June 8 through September 4.

HVSF_davis_maccaullum Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival 2017 “With Shakespeare as our inspiration as well as our resident playwright, HVSF will explore the intersection of the past and the present,” says McCallum.

“We’re presenting world premieres of a pair of brand new plays, alongside a pair of Shakespearean masterpieces, as well as the first major revival of Richard Nelson’s 1996 play about an unforgettable chapter of Hudson Valley history. We hope that our 2017 season will make actors and audience fall in love all over again with the magic of outdoor theater.”

HVSF is a critically acclaimed professional, non-profit theater company. It was named among The New York Times’ 50 Essential Summer Festivals in 2016, and was nominated for a Drama League Award for its 2015 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

It also holds a prominent place on What To Do’s Bucket List for residents of Armonk, Bedford and Chappaqua. We love it for their rollicking interpretations of Shakespeare’s comedies. And it’s great picnicking opportunities on the grounds of historic Boscobel’s House and Gardens overlooking the Hudson River and West Point in Garrison, NY.

Here’s this year’s line-up:

World Premiere, Pride & Prejudice, HVSF at Boscobel – Sat, 6/10- Mon, 9/4: In this co-production with Primary Stages, The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival debuts Kate Hamill’s playful new adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic romance on the rolling grounds of Regency-era Boscobel! Austen’s saga of manners, marriage and money in early 19^th century England maintains its relevance today as love saves the unlikely romance between the outspoken and independent Elizabeth Bennet and the impossibly aristocratic Mr. Darcy. Ms. Hamill previously adapated Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility for NYC’s Bedlam Theatre. Ben Brantley of the NYT’s called it “a delicious whirlwind of gossip.” (Boscobel, 1601 Rt. 9D, Garrison: www.hvshakespeare.org)

Twelfth Night, HVSF at Boscobel – Thurs, 6/8-Sun, 8/27: “If music be the food of love, play on.” Orsino loves Olivia. Olivia loves Cesario. Cesario’s a woman and in love with Orsino, disguised as a man…And Malvolio loves Olivia, too! HVSF is at it’s best with the Bard’s comedies. We look forward to seeing what Tony-nominated Director Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Broadway’s Hand to God and Present Laughter) does with this music-filled ensemble production of Shakespeare’s story of mistaken identities, tangled letters of love, and gender-bending hijinks. (Boscobel, 1601 Rt. 9D, Garrison; www.hvshakespeare.org)

World Premiere, The Book of Will, HVSF at Boscobel – Fri, 6/9-Fri, 7/28: HVSF Artistic Director Davis McCallum directs Lauren Gunderson’s irreverent new play The Book of Will. This “mostly-true” story of how Shakespeare’s comrades rescued and preserved his work was produced under the direction of McCallum at the Denver Center in January. Here it continues its rolling world premiere. Named among American Theater Magazine’s Top 20 Most-Produced Playwrights in America (2016-17), second only to August Wilson, Gunderson was the recipient of the 2016 Lanford Wilson and 2014 Steinberg/ATCA New Play awards. (Boscobel, 1601 Rt. 9D, Garrison; www.hvshakespeare.org)

The General From America, HVSF at Boscoble – Fri, 8/4-Sun, 9/3: HVSF launches its new series HVStories that focuses on the history, people and culture of the Hudson Valley, Tony, OBIE and Drama Desk-award winning Director Penny Metropulos’s production of Richard Nelson’s The General From America. The play retells the story of Benedict Arnold’s famous defection and flight from West Point – which you can see across the river from the Boscobel grounds. Nelson also wrote the screenplay for Hyde Park on Hudson starring Bill Murray and Laura Linney. His trio of plays, The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family was produced this winter at the Public Theater in New York. (Boscobel, 1601 Rt. 9D, Garrison; www.hvshakespeare.org)

Love’s Labours Lost, HVSF at Boscobel – Fri, 8/4 – Sun, 9/3: The King of Navarre and his lords have sworn off the pleasures of life to pursue their studies, but can their oaths hold up when a princess and her ladies come to town? In this co-production with New York’s The Acting Company, Ian Belknap, will direct Shakespeare’s comedy Love’s Labour’s Lost featuring HVSF’s Conservatory Company, an intensive training program for early-career actors. (Boscobel, 1601 Rt. 9D, Garrison; www.hvshakespeare.org)

HVSF_Saints and Poets Header Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival 2017 The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival performs daily (except Mondays in June) from the first Saturday in June through Labor Day. (Boscobel, 1601 Rt. 9D, Garrison: www.hvshakespeare.org)