Program areas at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival
In 2023, hvsf performed its second summer season of open-air performances at its new location in garrison, ny. Our season included productions of henry v directed by artistic director davis mccallum, loves labors lost directed by amanda dehnert, and a world premiere of a new musical, penelope, composed by alex bechtel, co written by eva steinmetz and grace mclean, and directed by eva steinmetz. The season reached over 16,000 audience members through in-person attendance.
Our annual new play development series occurred in august, featuring development workshops for "the murder of roger ackroyd" by heidi armbruster (hvsf commission), and "medea: re-versed" by luis quintero.in collaboration with processional arts workshop and multiple local organizations, highland lights returned for a second year, inviting community engagement through free public workshops held from march to april. Participants crafted lanterns using wire-forming, decoupage, and led lighting techniques. The program concluded with a glowing outdoor procession that lit up the garrison paths with a community-created display of lights and lanterns.the bake-off community playwriting series resumed in november 2023, in partnership with five local libraries. Writing workshops were attended by 112 participants, leading to 49 play submissions. Seven plays were selected for the final reading in fall 2023. The theme was jack hath not jill, inspired by our 2023 season at the garrison. Both highland lights and the bake-off are part of hvsf's full circle initiative, which aims to build and sustain community through participatory art-making.
In its 29th year, our education program engaged 15,349 students across 29 schools in the tri-state area through 302 in-person workshops and residencies led by 17 teaching artists. This year, romeo and juliet was performed 23 times in schools, reaffirming our commitment to live, interactive theater experiences for students.