Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival

Hudson Valley Shakespeare was founded in 1987 and spent its first three and a half decades performing under a tent at Boscobel House and Gardens before moving a few miles up the river to Garrison in 2022. In May 2026, the company cut the ribbon on its first permanent home, the Samuel H. Scripps Theater Center: a 451-seat, timber-framed open-air theater designed by Studio Gang and built to LEED Platinum standard, the first purpose-built theater in the country to hit that bar. The curved wood grid opens straight onto the Hudson Highlands, so the move indoors hasn't cost the company its signature view.

Contemporary staging and this season

The productions stay inventive rather than reverent: modern costumes, live music, language played for energy over reverence. This season pairs King Lear, with longtime company member Kurt Rhoads in the title role, against As You Like It in rotating repertory, plus a full production of Les Misérables staged by arrangement with Cameron Mackintosh, a bigger and higher-budget lineup than the tent years ever allowed. A new student matinee series runs weekday mornings for school groups at $15 a ticket.

Picnicking before curtain

The picnic tradition survived the move. Arrive an hour or so before curtain, claim a spot on one of the two lawns, and eat while the light goes down over the river. The Garrison clubhouse holds the Valley Restaurant and the World's End Bar for a sit-down meal beforehand, or grab something at the concessions tent and eat on the grass. Regular tickets run from $40 to $75, with lawn seating the cheapest way in; book ahead, since the good performances sell out.