Shakespeare moves from temporary tent to $30 million theater in Putnam County
"When it used to be a tent, it had kind of a circusy atmosphere," actor Luis Quintero said, "but now that the whole place is wood, it feels like the whole place is elevated in caliber and expectations."
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A once nomadic nonprofit theater group devoted to William Shakespeare is celebrating its new permanent, half-indoor, half-outdoor home.
The cast entered the new Samuel H Scripps Theater on Thursday morning to promote its upcoming performance of Shakespeare's 'As You Like It.' The theater was full of donors, friends and news media.
The play is a perfect first performance for this location along the Hudson River, said actor and playwright Luis Quintero, of Hudson Valley Shakespeare.
"There are a lot of scenes where there is a lot of interplay between scenes that happen on the inside and scenes that happen on the outside," he said, "and it happens when characters are outside, traveling between places."
Cast and crew had been moving from tent to tent.
They put on last summer's productions along Route 9, a few hundred feet from their new amphitheater, their new temple.
"When it used to be a tent, it had kind of a circusy atmosphere," Quintero said, "but now that the whole place is wood, it feels like the whole place is elevated in caliber and expectations."
State and federal grants, plus donations, covered the $30 million it took to create the 451-seat theater with a stage that extends beyond the wooden floors into the grass in the shadow of Storm King Mountain across the Hudson River.
During the tent days, the back of the house used to be hectic and cramped.
Architect Jeanne Gang consulted cast and crew on this project.
"The feel of this space is also calming," she said, as she showed visitors the new dressing room, "and that's what's needed before you go on stage."
The dramatic entrance from across the grass toward the theater and a quick song were HSV's first public performances since the tent days.
"The honor of opening a new theater, and the excitement of being in a new space and figuring out how this place works is a blessing and a joy," Miriam Laube, director of "As You Like It," said.
The summer season kicks off June 10, beginning with "As You Like It."
The group is also performing "King Lear" and a non-Shakespeare classic, "Les Misérables."
