Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival Receives Final Approval for First Permanent Home

Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival has approved the full site plan for its new home, following a multiyear public process. Designed by architecture and urban design practice Studio Gang, HVSF’s new home will center around the first purpose-built LEED Platinum theater in the United States, and includes a comprehensive design for a sustainable site with extensive green space and rewilding across the 98-acre campus that was recently gifted to the company by philanthropist Chris Davis.
 
Located in Garrison, NY, the 13,850 square foot venue design will serve as a permanent home for HVSF, the beloved New York theater company known for its sweeping open-air productions of classics and new works that are set against the backdrop of the Hudson River and the surrounding landscape. The new structure is the centerpiece of HVSF’s commitment to sustainability and responsible stewardship of the campus. With the approvals process now complete, HVSF plans to begin construction this fall, with the new theater scheduled to open in time for the 2026 summer season.
 
“The approval process has been extensive and rigorous, and we’ve worked to listen to all of the stakeholders in our community to responsibly steward this incredible land,” said Davis McCallum, HVSF’s Artsitic Director. “The ambition of creating a space that equally serves the theater, the community, and the environment is enormous and the responsibility is not lost on us. We are grateful for the diligent review of the Planning Board in Philipstown, and we look forward to continuing to collaborate with our community as we realize the vision of this cultural campus as an important resource for our community and the region.”
 
The design creates a singular theatrical destination for New York and the wider performing arts community and a cultural anchor for the Hudson Valley, while providing the company with greater versatility for its actors, audiences, and back-of-house operations and will extend the viable performance season into the fall. Bringing nature and art closer together, the theater’s curved, timber-framed grid shell and timber columns emerge from the landscape to create a dialogue with the Hudson Highlands. The stage’s proscenium arch is carefully oriented to frame picturesque views of the Wey-Gat (or “Wind Gate”) of Storm King Mountain, the Hudson River, and Breakneck Ridge, and allows the actors to utilize the existing topography to emerge from the landscape.
 
Landscape elements are also integrated into the theater’s architecture: outdoor gathering spaces adjacent to the theater encourage visitors to connect with each other in an extraordinary natural setting, while a nearby overlook offers an intimate space for pre- and post-performance programming. HVSF is targeting groundbreaking for fall of this year.
 
“HVSF is such a beloved cultural institution, with a truly unique natural setting in the Hudson Valley,” said Studio Gang Founding Principal and Partner, Jeanne Gang. “Our design aims to help the company build on their strengths, with low-carbon architecture that improves daily functionality and amplifies the traditions that define their open-air performances—like the spectacular proscenium arch framing an iconic Hudson River view—as well as create new opportunities for audiences and actors to interact before and after the show. The ecology of the site also receives a new level of care, replacing a monocultural lawn with a biodiverse landscape that brings resiliency, wildlife, and seasonal beauty for all to enjoy.”
 
Since its first season in 1987, HVSF’s productions have been staged in a collection of temporary tents at Boscobel House and Gardens overlooking the Hudson River and, more recently, on the grounds of HVSF’s new home in the hills above. The new design elevates the overall theatrical experience for both actors and audiences through improved rehearsal, performance, and amenity spaces; expanded accessibility for all visitors; and technical additions that open new opportunities for HVSF productions. The landscape design by Nelson Byrd Woltz replaces the site’s water-intensive former golf course with restored native grasses and wetlands that support biodiversity and decrease resource use. HVSF was gifted the land in 2020 by philanthropist Chris Davis, with the dual purpose of establishing a permanent home for the company and permanently preserving the 98-acre site for future generations.
 
Anchored by an open-air theater, the program is spread across several pavilions that include a back-of-house facility, a concession building, and standalone public restrooms. Each pavilion is clad in natural materials that evoke the minerality of the region. The landscape is designed as an experiential sequence, as visitors, upon arrival, encounter a mix of unpaved and accessible paths that guide them up and through a hillside meadow leading to picnic lawns and the theater plaza, which unites all the pavilions. The design employs several features to enhance environmental performance, including natural ventilation and brise soleil systems, low embodied carbon structure and cladding, rooftop solar panels, and an extensive green roof, among others. Through its care for the environment, and the planet more broadly, the design aims to ensure the company’s productions and the diversity of the natural world remain center stage for many seasons to come. 
 
HVSF is also the recent recipient of a New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) $10 million grant, as part of NYSCA’s 2023 Capital Improvement Grants for Arts and Culture. This allocation represents one of the largest expressions of support by NYSCA in the state, marking a milestone achievement for HVSF as it receives capital funding from NYSCA for the first time. The fund's purpose is to provide resources to cultural institutions for capital improvements that will enable them to expand and sustain diverse programming, enhance accessibility and environmental sustainability, generate and preserve jobs, and contribute to the growth of New York's arts organizations. A significant portion of the grant will be used to support the construction of the theater, as well as for the ecological restoration of the site, creating native meadows, new picnic lawns, and new ADA accessible pathways. These initiatives all align with HVSF's commitment to achieving carbon neutrality for the campus by 2040.
 
In her live announcement of the grant, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said, "We're going to continue bringing Shakespeare to the Hudson Valley, and I had a chance to visit and witness the incredible work that you're doing. I immediately recognized the need to continue supporting it. There are so many different ways that you can touch the soul — through your eyes, through your ears, listening to music. It's also about becoming engaged with a story that's over 500 years old, a story that continues to tell tales of incredible relevance to this day."
 
HVSF’s current season includes By The Queen, by Tony Award nominee Whitney White (Jaja’s African Hair Braiding), adapted from William Shakespeare’s Henry VI and Richard III, and directed by Shana Cooper (The Taming of the Shrew at HVSF); the World Premiere of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Heidi Armbruster (Mrs. Christie), adapted from Agatha Christie, and directed by Ryan Quinn (The Tempest at HVSF); and the World Premiere of Medea: Re-Versed, by Luis Quintero (Love’s Labor’s Lost), adapted from Euripides, and co-conceived and directed by Nathan Winkelstein (Seascape), in a co-production with Red Bull Theater and Bedlam. All three productions run in repertory throughout the summer under the company’s current seasonal tent.

Photo credit: Studio Gang