Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival
The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival returns to Boscobel for a 28th season from June 9 through September 1. This year, the company will perform "The Winter's Tale," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "The Tempest," and "The Arabian Nights." "An Iliad," a one-man interpretation of Homer's classic epic by Lisa Patterson and Denis O'Hare, will also be performed by Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival veteran Kurt Rhoads. The performances are all outdoors with a scenic Hudson River backdrop, set in a theater tent that seats 540 audience members. Special events will be held throughout the summer, including Friday Night Prologues, with actor-director-scholar and guest artist-led pre-show discussions; and Teen Nights, with designated workshops and discussions for teens 13 and older. This year's guest directors include Eric Tucker, Lileana Blain-Cruz, Jim Calder, and Gaye Taylor Upchurch (directing "An Iliad", see sidebar). The festival is designed not only to showcase classic theater, but also to encourage conversation about Shakespeare's plays. Preshow picnicking on the beautifully landscaped grounds is encouraged, and catered picnic meals are available with advance purchase. Hvsf.org
"An Iliad"
Homer's classic, "The Iliad," gets a modern flourish at this year's Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival at Boscobel. Lisa Patterson and Denis O'Hare's interpretation, appropriately titled "An Iliad," combines the ancient Greek prose with modern vernacular, a one-person cast, and a personal connection with the audience. Patterson and O'Hare's play, staged for only five performances, will be directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch, best known for directing Simon Stephen's "Harper Regan" with the Atlantic Theater Company. The one-man show will star Kurt Rhoads, a Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival veteran. Gaye Taylor Upchurch discusses the underlying themes of the adaptation, working with Kurt Rhoads, and the reason why the Trojan War is as relevant as ever. "An Iliad" will be staged on July 30 and August 3, 9, 21, and 24.As told to Kelly Seiz.
What's your connection/interpretation of "An Iliad" as a director?
One of the beauties of Lisa and Denis's adaptation is that it's wide open for another director to have their own take on the material. I am keeping the same format—it's still going to be a solo piece, and in this version, I'm working with Kurt Rhoads, who's an incredible actor and has done a lot with the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival.
What's the most exciting part of directing "An Iliad"?
Every time you have a new actor-director pair you're going to create something different. This particular version of the piece is that it's going to be outdoors, under the tent and we're going to have a composer and a live musician. Our plan is to create the score in the rehearsal room. The composer, in front of the room, will be there with them to collectively figure out [the staging]. So it'll all happen at once in the room.
Why is "An Iliad" so important at this point in time?
We are a country at war, and we have been now for a decade, and the new adaptation allows us to look at the Trojan War in a different way, and human interaction with war in a different way. The poem and this adaptation focus on the cost of war. I would say it also brings together humankind over the centuries—this adaptation really gives Homer a modern voice.
Why did Peterson and O'Hare decide to include modern vernacular with the classic prose?
I think the effect is one that collapses that distance of time and space, so it brings the Trojan War into the room under the tent with us.
Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice
This year's Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice runs from July 29 to August 2, bringing a red-white-and-blue flourish with this year's theme: America. Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" and Carlisle Ford operatic take on Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" will be preformed, as will Menotti's "The Medium." The vocal festival also features workshops, theatrical productions, and musical discussions on topics from the operatic to a capella. The festival was founded when three internationally acclaimed, local opera singers put together an impromptu opera concert to raise money for playground equipment. More than 500 audience members flooded the town for "Opera Under the Stars," begging for an encore after the final scene. Six months later, the idea for an annual summer vocal festival solidified. Since its inception, the festival has grown from six events over three days in 2010 to this year's 50-plus performers participating in 29 events in five days at locations all over town. Phoeniciavoicefest.org
