COLD SPRING, N.Y.: Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (HVSF) has announced its 2017 summer season, which will feature five productions. All five will run in repertory June 8-Sept. 4, 2017.
“With Shakespeare as our inspiration as well as our resident playwright, HVSF will explore the intersection of the past and the present: telling timeless stories that speak powerfully to our world today,” said artistic director Davis McCallum in a statement. “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. At the heart of each of these plays is a story about love—of comrades and friends, of family, of country, of romantic enchantments and unspeakable longing.”
McCallum will direct Lauren Gunderson’s play The Book of Will, which is having a rolling world premiere in 2017. The play is about the construction of Shakespeare’s First Folio.
The second world premiere of the season is Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
Next up, Tony-nominated director Moritz von Stuelpnagel will helm Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night.
The second Shakespeare of the season will be Love’s Labour’s Lost, produced in partnership with The Acting Company in New York City. It will also feature members from HVSF’s Conservatory Company, an intensive training program for early-career actors. Following the HVSF engagement, Love’s Labour’s Lost will tour to NYC schools.
Next season will also mark the launch of a new initiative, HVSeries, focused on the history, people, and culture of the Hudson Valley. The inaugural play of that series is Richard Nelson’s The General From America, directed by Penny Metropulos. The play is a retelling of Benedict Arnold’s defection from West Point. HVSF will partner with the Putnam History Museum and other regional organizations to offer programming around the play.
HVSF will celebrate its 31st season in 2017. It attracts more than 35,000 visitors annually to its open-air Theater Tent.
