{"id":646142,"date":"2026-05-16T05:32:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T05:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/646142\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T05:32:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T05:32:13","slug":"studio-gang-completes-timber-open-air-theater-for-hudson-valley-shakespeare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/646142\/","title":{"rendered":"Studio Gang completes timber open-air theater for Hudson Valley Shakespeare"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hudson Valley Shakespeare<\/a>, a theater<\/a> troupe based in Garrison, New York, used to hold its performances in temporary tents at Boscobel House and Gardens. Now, a new timber<\/a> pavilion designed by Studio Gang<\/a> provides a more permanent venue.<\/p>\n

The long anticipated Samuel H. Scripps Theater Center opened this week in Hudson Valley<\/a>. Nelson Byrd Woltz<\/a> served as landscape architect.<\/p>\n

\"aerialThe 98-acre campus has picnic lawns for informal hangouts. (\u00a9 Jason O\u2019Rear)
\n\"theA series of long structures with gabled profiles augment the main theater. (\u00a9 Jason O\u2019Rear)<\/p>\n

The theater was designed to provide optimal views of Hudson Valley\u2019s rolling hills and namesake river. It was built on a former golf course that Nelson Byrd Woltz transformed into a 98-acre campus for the theater company, rejuvenating the land\u2019s biodiversity. The restoration of native grasses and wetlands remedies damage inherited from the golf course.<\/p>\n

\"interiorThe theater was oriented to capture views of the hills and the river beyond. (\u00a9 Jason O\u2019Rear)
\n\"LargeLarge A-shaped timber columns support the roof structure. (\u00a9 Jason O\u2019Rear)<\/p>\n

The land was gifted<\/a> to Hudson Valley Shakespeare in 2019 by Chris Davis, a philanthropist who is also backing the controversial Fjord Trail<\/a>, a proposed 7.5-mile walking and biking path on the Hudson River by SCAPE<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hudson Valley Shakespeare artistic directors Davis McCallum and Kendra Ekelund worked in tandem with Studio Gang and Nelson Byrd Woltz on a masterplan for the sprawling site that was implemented over the course of the last six years.<\/p>\n

Renderings by Studio Gang were rolled out<\/a> in 2023. Construction broke ground<\/a> in 2024. Today a curved grid shell theater supported by large A-shaped timber columns anchors the campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe building\u2019s curved mass timber structure harmonizes with the natural beauty of the site while modeling a more sustainable future for cultural and performing arts spaces,\u201d Studio Gang founder Jeanne Gang said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Wey-Gat (or \u201cWind Gate\u201d) serves as a prelude to the theater. The stage\u2019s proscenium arch is strategically oriented to frame picturesque views of Storm King Mountain. Picnic lawns are speckled throughout the site for impromptu hangouts.<\/p>\n

\"theThe roof profile mimics Hudson Valley\u2019s rolling hills. (\u00a9 Jason O\u2019Rear)
\n\"close-upThe pavilions are in part shaded by the main theater\u2019s roof membrane. (\u00a9 Jason O\u2019Rear)<\/p>\n

The main theater measures 6,800 square feet and has 451 seats. It is augmented by an additional 10,000-square-foot back-of-house area with dressing rooms, a green room, wardrobe facilities, offices, as well as public offerings such as concessions and washrooms. These facilities are housed within small structures clad in yakisugi, a Japanese method of wood preservation that chars the material.<\/p>\n

Low-carbon mass timber, rooftop solar panels, rainwater harvesting and reuse put the venue on track to become the \u201cfirst purpose-built, open-air theater\u201d in the U.S. to achieve LEED Platinum certification, Studio Gang said. By 2040 Hudson Valley Shakespeare hopes to have achieved carbon neutrality.<\/p>\n

Back in New York City Studio Gang also recently completed the Shirley Chisholm Recreation Center<\/a> in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hudson Valley Shakespeare, a theater troupe based in Garrison, New York, used to hold its performances in temporary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88],"class_list":["post-646142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}