Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival's 2015 Season to Feature WINTER'S TALE, AN ILLIAD & More

Davis McCallum, Artistic Director of the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (HVSF), has finalized plans for the Company's 29th season with the announcement that Arabian Nights, written by Mary Zimmerman, adapted from The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, will run in repertory with Shakespeare's Winter's Tale, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and a limited run of An Illiad, by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare.

"Each of these pieces aims to transport the audience with the simplest and most powerful of theatrical means - language, wit, movement, commitment, and passion," McCallum noted. "Our 2015 Season is a celebration of the power of storytelling. Next to eating, and sleeping, and love, one of our deepest human needs is for stories. In fact, the idea of tales told and of ears bent by the power of a tale, occurs again and again throughout Shakespeare. That magical connection between the storyteller and the listener is at the center of all our work at HVSF," he concluded.

Arabian Nights will be directed by newcomer to HVSF, Lileana Blain-Cruz. Making his directorial debut at HVSF, McCallum will direct The Winter's Tale. Eric Tucker, who directed Two Gentlemen of Verona for the 2014 season, will direct A Midsummer Night's Dream. The one-man play An Iliad will be directed by another newcomer to HVSF Gaye Taylor Upchurch and will feature HVSF veteran actor Kurt Rhoads. In addition to the four "mainstage" productions, The Conservatory Company, HVSF's training program for early-career actors under the leadership of new Associate Artistic Director Sean McNall, will present a production of The Tempest, directed by Jim Calder, Master Teacher and head of Movement at NYU's Graduate Acting program. With a focus on outreach, the production will be designed to tour other venues throughout the Hudson Valley.

"I am thrilled to welcome this distinguished group of directors to the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, and I look forward to sharing their work with our audiences," said McCallum.

Casting of the productions will be announced at a later date.

Previews for the 2015 season are set to begin on June 9. The shows will run in repertory through then end of August. Openings nights are scheduled as follows:

June 18 - Arabian Nights

June 20 - Midsummer Night's Dream

June 27 - Winter's Tale

August 3 - An Illiad (5 performances only)

August 17 - The Tempest (1 performance only)

Gift certificates for the 2015 season are available online at http://hvshakespeare.org. The Box Office will open for online sales in mid-February. For information visit the website or call (845) 809-5750.

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