Hudson Warehouse



The Hudson Warehouse is a not-for-profit theatre company in New York City whose mission is "to present the classics in exciting productions inspired by our past and relevant to our present day." Known as "The Other Shakespeare in the Park," the company was founded in 2004 by Nicholas Martin-Smith with the intention of delivering the "most vibrant, relevant, and engaging outdoor theatre possible." Mr. Martin-Smith, who serves as its artistic director, has among his ancestors Irish playwright Edward Martyn, who along with W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory of Poole founded the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Mr. Martin-Smith cites Martyn as a key inspiration. The theater's summer season includes three productions, ranging from Shakespeare to Chekhov. As the New York Times has written, "the focus is on classics, not just Shakespeare."

History
The Hudson Warehouse's first season in 2004 consisted of a single modest production of The Tempest, performed over two weeks that July. The season has since expanded to encompass the entire summer, with three productions that each have a month run. Past productions include Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Pericles, Prince of Tyre, MacBeth, Love's Labour's Lost, The Bacchae, and Twelfth Night. Hudson Warehouse productions in 2010 were Romeo and Juliet, Cyrano, and Trojan Women, adapted from the tragedy by Euripides. The company also holds performances and readings throughout the year, including its "Shakespeare in the Bar" series.

Summer performances take place on the North Patio of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument (New York) in Riverside Park, at West 89th and Riverside Drive in New York City, along the Hudson River. Regarding the pristine location, the Gothamist said, "A different play from Shakespeare, a different park; free tickets, and no lining up with thousands of others all day ... The talented company directed by Nicholas Martin-Smith should make even the muggy nights (seem) a bit cooler". The Shakespeare Newsletter said, "The company's creative use of the setting at Soldiers and Sailors Monument ... was an outstanding feature." In addition to the summer season and other Shakespeare readings throughout the year, the company also teaches workshops of the classics to high school students, and brings its productions into schools.

Mission
The Hudson Warehouse says its mission is "to present the classics in exciting productions inspired by our past and relevant to our present day. We want to educate the novice and enthrall the well-versed. We embrace the traditional and innovative, the classical and the modern classic. Through the dedication, passion and intelligence of all our theater artists, we bring these works to life. When our work elicits a true emotional response from an audience member, this experience reaffirms that theatre is a 'ware' that is essential to daily life."

2011 Season
The Hudson Warehouse debuted its eighth season in Riverside Park in June with the production of Merry Wives of Windsor, directed by Eric Nightengale. Of its debut, Steven McElroy of the New York Times said, "Clouds loomed over Riverside Park in Manhattan ... but the stars (were) aligned for the cast of this month's Hudson Warehouse production of The Merry Wives of Windsor."

In July, the company began its run of The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, directed by Tom Demenkoff. Critic Richard Grayson called the production "riveting, thoughtful and delightfully entertaining ... featuring this company's always wonderful actors. We immensely enjoyed this innovative version of Anton Chekhov's dark, meditative but often very funny comedy." The company ended the season in August with The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Jesse Michael Mothershed.

Production History
Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Richard Harden Pericles, Prince of Tyre, directed by David Fuller MacBeth directed by Richard Harden
 * 2010: Trojan Women, adapted and directed by Nicholas Martin-Smith; Cyrano, adapted by Joseph Hamel and directed by Nicholas Martin-Smith; Romeo and Juliet, directed by Nicholas Martin-Smith
 * 2009: The Tempest, directed by Jerrod Bogard; Hamlet, adapted by Joseph Hamel and directed by Nicholas Martin-Smith;
 * 2008: Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Nicholas Martin-Smith;
 * 2007: As You Like It, directed by Nicholas Martin-Smith;
 * 2006: Love's Labour's Lost, directed by Nicholas Martin-Smith; The Bacchae
 * 2005: Twelfth Night, directed by Nicholas Martin-Smith
 * 2004: The Tempest, directed by Nicholas Martin-Smith

Critical Response
In August 2009, The L Magazine voted Hudson Warehouse the “Best Out Door Theatre” in New York City, saying "a combination of the excellent hardworking cast and the sunsets over the Hudson that serve as their backdrop makes these outdoor productions a must."

The company has been praised for innovative productions of the classics. HappentoLikeNewYork.org called the Hudson Warehouse 2010 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, set in the turmoil of the modern Middle East, "a 'savage' version of the classic tale set in the sands on Afghanistan." Calling it a "high-intensity cage match," it declared, "the cast of Romeo and Juliet at Hudson Warehouse made me a believer." Of the company's choice to do Cyrano, Newsday said, "Somebody dares to greet the elements with words by someone other than Shakespeare. Nicholas Martin-Smith directs this revival of Edmond Rostand's irresistible late-Romantic swashbuckling tragedy about the heroism and beauty lost behind a nose."

And the company's production of Hamlet was noted for using multiple actors to play the role of Hamlet. "Most of us are aware that no one Hamlet can express all the manifold variations of the character ... so how about three Hamlets, deployed artfully? These three Hamlets invited multiplicity simply through the actorly presence of each," noted the Shakespeare Newsletter.



2010 Adaptation of Trojan Women
Among the highlights of the 2010 season was an adaptation of Trojan Women, the first time the Hudson Warehouse had revisited the works of Euripides since the 2006 production of The Bacchae. Adapted and directed by Mr. Martin-Smith, it is a contemporary piece of work that echoes the choral odes of the original Greek tragedies. The Trojan women of the play are the same that appear in the final chapter of the Iliad, set in a refugee camp, a stark world where the women continue to grasp onto a life that no longer exists. And the fate of the women are decided at the hands of soldiers, still hungry for war. The cast included Ruth Nightengale as Hecuba, Lindsay Kitt Wiebe as Andromache, and Chel Shipley as Cassandra. The adaptation had its run in June 2010. "There is so much more to the story in the context of our world today," Mr. Martin-Smith said of his desire to do a retelling of the tragedy. "I sought to create the same experience for the audience of today as the original text did twenty-three centuries ago, when twenty-five thousand people could be moved to tears during a performance of a tragedy at The Festival of Dionysus."

Shakespeare in the Bar and Writers A Go-Go Reading Series




Since 2010 Hudson Warehouse has also brought its work into the barroom in its "Shakespeare in the Bar" series, where the acting troupe sit among the bar patrons as if customers themselves as they perform the readings. Regarding the series, John Marshall of the Huffington Post has written, "I saw one of the best Julius Caesar (performances) I have ever seen ... Shakespeare in the Park is one thing, but Shakespeare in the Bar is not only better ... it's like witnessing the most literary, spell-binding arguments and bar fights you've ever seen." The 2010 - 2011 season includes The Taming of the Shrew, Chekhov's The Seagull, to mark Chekhov's 151st birthday, Henry V, Merry Wives of Windsor, Richard II, Macbeth, and Tartuffe by Molière.

The company's Writers A Go-Go (WAGG) Reading Series and Workshop features readings of plays and screenplays by new and emerging writers. The series is run by Hudson Warehouse Executive Producer Susane Lee and Artist in Residence John Yarbrough.

Current Company
Along with Mr. Martin-Smith, key members of the company include Artistic Associates Chris Behan and Sydney Stanton, and Associate Producer Drew Rosene. Artists in Residence include Amanda Renee Baker, Tom Demenkoff, Nick DeVita, Tyler D. Hall, Joseph Hamel, Mark Isler, Jared Kirby, Jesse Michael Mothershed, Ruth Nightengale, Vince Phillip, Roger Dale Stude and John Yarbrough.