Gallery Exhibition Celebrates Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival's OUR TOWN

Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival has commissioned New York-based photographer Ashley Garrett to create a photographic portrait of each cast member for its upcoming production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town. The photographs will also be exhibited as a collection titled "This Is the Way We Were," and will be on exhibition at Cold Spring's Gallery 66 from August 5 - August 28, 2016.

This season, in gratitude to the Hudson Valley community for its 30 years of support, HVSF is producing a large-scale, community-driven, version of Wilder's 1938 theatrical masterpiece Our Town. In the spirit of The Public Theater's Public Works program, Our Town will place three professional HVSF actors alongside 39 community members drawn from all over the Hudson Valley. Cold Spring resident John Christian Plummer will direct the production and it will be presented under the HVSF tent at Boscobel during Labor Day weekend, and at locations in Peekskill and Newburgh. The 42-person cast of Our Town reflects the true diversity of the Hudson Valley, with individuals from Tarrytown to Poughkeepsie, aged 11 to 78, and of many races and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Recognizing that this project will amass a unique microcosm of the people who reside in the Hudson Valley, "This Is the Way We Were" seeks to capture this group, in all their specificity and diversity. Photographer Ashley Garrett will create a portrait of every cast member presenting themselves in their favorite clothes, as well as a group shot of the entire cast.

HVSF's Artistic Director, Davis McCallum designed the community-driven Our Town as a show of gratitude to the broad, diverse community that resides in the Hudson Valley. The project also aims to give people from the region an ever-greater feeling of ownership over art and artistic spaces. "This Is the Way We Were" will extend this reach even further by putting citizens from local communities in the spotlight-on the walls of a gallery. While Hudson Valley residents are often asked to visit artistic spaces as spectators, this project turns the camera around, allowing them to see themselves reflected in an artist's lens. It is Garrett's hope that the community members being captured feel complete ownership over the images and the exhibition. The project will also present the heart of HVSF's Our Town-the community itself-to a wider audience. In total, thirteen hundred individuals will see the free Our Town performances produced by the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, and this month-long exhibition will allow a much broader community to join in celebration of the Hudson Valley region.

Our Town, winner of the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, is widely regarded as a masterpiece of American drama. The play follows the people who live in a small Northeast town: the teenagers, the little kids, their parents, the librarian, the cop, the baseball players, the church choir etc. The story focuses around a couple of teenagers named Emily and George, who are trying to find love. "The play itself has a universality," McCallum said. "It is devastating and totally unsentimental." To read more about HVSF's production of Our Town, see related Highland Current articles HERE and HERE.

Now celebrating its 30th Anniversary Season, the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (HVSF) is a critically acclaimed (The New York Times, New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal), professional, non-profit theater company. Located one hour north of Manhattan in Garrison, NY, HVSF has established a reputation for lucid, engaging and highly inventive productions staged on the Great Lawn of the historic Boscobel House and Gardens with a backdrop of stunning vistas overlooking the Hudson River. Each year, its productions attract a total audience of more than 35,000 from Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, New York City, New Jersey, and beyond, regularly achieving over 80% audience capacity. HVSF also takes the magic of Shakespeare and live theater beyond the tent by touring shows throughout the Hudson Valley and by presenting limited runs of classic plays in local landmark venues. Their acclaimed arts education programs include training for early-career theater artists, professional development for educators, and programs and performances that serve nearly 50,000 middle and high school students each year. The company's mission is to "engage the widest possible audience in a fresh conversation about what is essential in Shakespeare's plays. Our theater lives in the here and now, at the intersection of the virtuosity of the actor, the imagination of the audience, and the inspiration of the text." For more information about the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, visit hvshakespeare.org.

Gallery 66 NY is dedicated to exhibiting the work of gifted and experienced artists. Although the primary focus is the art of the Hudson Valley - as represented both by well-established artists and talented newcomers - the gallery believes in inviting artists from outside the area to bring added exposure to the local artists and to Cold Spring. In addition to the presentation of fine works of art, Gallery 66 NY hosts performance, and interactive art events. It strives to work in collaboration and cooperation with the immediate community and school system through exhibits and events.

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