Casting and dates announced for Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival’s 2021 Summer Season

Photo credit: T. Charles Erickson (The Taming of the Shrew, 2018)

Performance dates and casting have been announced for the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival’s 2021 summer season, commencing on 24 June at Boscobel House and Gardens.

Opening the season will be The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington by James Ijames, running from 24 June - 30 July.

In his will, George Washington included an order to free his enslaved people upon his wife’s death. Christmas Eve, 1800: George Washington is dead, Martha is battling a wicked fever, and those who have been held in bondage at Mount Vernon wait for the end to come, and the promised hour of liberation. As the night goes on, Martha moves through a fever dream of dizzying theatricality, exploring the hideous and enduring ramifications of America’s original sin.

Directed by Taylor Reynolds, the cast includes Tyler Fauntleroy, Cyndii Johnson, Ralph Adriel Johnson, Claudia Logan, Britney Simpson, Brandon St. Clair, and Nance Williamson. 

Next up is William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, running from 5 August - 4 September, as directed by Ryan Quinn.

Prospero has been exiled from his Dukedom in Milan for 12 years, but as the time has come for a final reckoning, he weaves a spell to draw his enemies to his enchanted island. Believed by many to be Shakespeare’s final play, the exuberant and poignant romance is a fitting grand finale to HVSF’s 34-year tenure at Boscobel. The transcendent story brings new meaning to the phrase “social distancing” and thrums with the deep human need for connection and community.

The cast includes Caturah Brown, Kayla Coleman, Jonathan Contreras, Zack Fine, Tyler Fauntleroy, Trevor Latez Hayes, Ralph Adriel Johnson, Claudia Logan, Sean McNall, Jason O'Connell, Howard Overshown, Kurt Rhoads, India Shea, Britney Simpson, and Nance Williamson.

The 2021 season also features a radio play of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which premieres on 7 June and will be available to stream until 20 June.

Directed and adapted for young audiences by Raz Golden, this audio drama is inspired by his work on the creative team for The Public Theater’s podcast adaptation of Richard II. The classic story charts the extremes of ambition and guilt, and the disruption of the natural order. With our world in a state of upheaval, this reexamination of Shakespeare's play will speak directly to the cultural moment and illuminate a harrowing psychological descent into darkness.

The cast for Macbeth includes Biko Eisen-Martin, Luis Quintero, Antoinette Robinson, Matthew Saldivar, Thom Sesma, Julyana Soelistyo, and Amelia Workman.

Artistic Director Davis McCallum said: “We are thrilled to be among the first in New York to safely welcome both this fantastic company of actors and our dearly missed audience members back to the Theatre Tent. Our open-air tradition gives us the opportunity to safely celebrate a farewell season at Boscobel featuring two full-scale productions that speak to the past, present, and future. We are looking forward to seeing the community come to life once again this summer.”

The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington and The Tempest will also be filmed and made available to stream online. Additional details will be announced at a later date.

For more information about the season, please click here.