Putnam County Government: Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival

Press release from the Putnam County Government:

September 9, 2021

Immediate Release
Putnam County Executive
MaryEllen Odell
845-808-1001

September 9, 2021

As the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival wrapped up its final season at Boscobel House and Gardens
on Saturday, Sept. 4, Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell wished the company well in its new
permanent home.
HVSF plans to open next year at a new location just down the road in Garrison on nearly 100 acres
donated by the local philanthropist Chris Davis.
“Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival has been such an asset to this county and our residents,” County
Executive Odell said. “Generations of Putnam residents have attended HSVF productions over the past
35 years and come away enchanted and enlightened. HVSF has had a glorious run at Boscobel, and I
am sure that a fabulous encore awaits in the next season in their new venue. As life has taught us all, as
one curtain closes, another one surely opens.”
Saturday’s final performance was The Tempest, which is considered to be the last play Shakespeare
wrote on his own, and thus a fitting sendoff to HVSF’s 35 years at Boscobel.
“HSVF is at our own pivotal moment in our life as a theater,” Davis McCallum, artistic director of HVSF
wrote in the playbill. “Thanks to the generosity of philanthropist Chris Davis, we are busily planning our
move to the company’s first ever permanent-home! Just three miles down the road, this spectacular new
home – with astonishing Hudson River views – will allow us to remain a vital part of the Hudson
Highlands community that we’ve served and loved over the past 35 years.”
After the last bow was taken on Saturday, McCallum had everyone in the audience light an LED tealight
candle. When the lights in the iconic tent were turned off, he employed a bit of theater superstition and
made a wish for all the wonderful stories that have been told during HVSF’s run at Boscobel to find their
way to the company’s new home.

This press release was produced by the Putnam County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.