Catskill Mountain Shakespeare was born in February 2020, however its inaugural season was initially derailed by the pandemic. Despite those limitations we created two online installments of “Forest Scenes”, iconic Shakespeare scenes from Macbeth and As You Like It. Keeping our ’pod’ as small as possible and attempting to limit exposure, we filmed outside in the lush backdrop of the Catskill mountains. The project was then uploaded online for free viewing. In our first year we accomplished our goals of creating art that celebrated the region our and introducing our company to the community while working within the tight restrictions put in place by the pandemic. 

 

In 2021, we officially premiered our outdoor production of Twelfth Night engaging 18 artists whose work had been greatly impacted due to the pandemic. Twelfth Night ran for 10 performances outdoors and under a tent at The Emerson Resort and Spa in Mt Tremper. We also created our Low Cost/No Cost Ticket Initiative that offers discounted and free performance tickets to anyone who requests them.

 

In 2022, we premiered A Midsummer Night’s Dream engaging 21 artists for 12 performances which included 5 sold out shows. 2022 marked the official beginning of our Outreach Program which now includes Pay What You Can performances, an LGBTQ Summer Social which creates a safe and festive space for all local queer people and their allies, a Relaxed Performance geared for families and special needs persons, and Free Theatrical Workshops for the local community taught by our artistic professionals.

 

2023 marked our 4th year of production with the comedy As You Like It for 3 weeks/12 performances and engaging 25 artists. The production also featured a live folk rock music soundtrack featuring tunes from David Bowie, Tom Petty, The Cure, Johnny Cash, and more. We also partnered with the Catskill Mountain Foundation, a local non-profit that has committed itself to community betterment and investment for the past 25 years. Under CMF’s sponsorship, we moved our performance to Main Street in Hunter, NY and doubled our audience members.

​

2024 marks our 5th year anniversary. Thanks to funding from the Shakespeare in American Communities grant, we are launching a 3-week tour of The Tempest, visiting local schools and community venues in April. Our main stage production of Julius Caesar will run outdoors and under the tent for 12 performances in July. Finally, we are launching the Catskill Mountain Shakespeare Youth Company (CMS YOCO) in August. This week-long summer intensive, taught by CMS professionals, will include text work, voice, improv, theater games, and stagecraft for youth grades 6-12.

 

In a relatively short time, CMS has garnered wide support from patrons, local business owners and corporate investors and aims to become a cultural hub providing shared arts experiences and opportunities for all enthusiasts in our region.