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After nearly four decades under a tent, Hudson Valley Shakespeare is getting a home worthy of its magnitude. Opening in summer 2026, the Samuel H. Scripps Theater Center in Garrison, New York, will give the beloved open-air company its first permanent stage—one designed to blend right into the rolling hills above the Hudson River.
The 26,000-square-foot, 475-seat venue, designed by Studio Gang, will be the first purpose-built LEED Platinum-certified theater in the United States, making it as green as it is gorgeous. Supported by timber A-frame columns and a curved grid-shell roof that mirrors the surrounding ridgelines, the structure will frame sweeping views of Storm King, Breakneck Ridge and the Hudson below.
Worry not: audiences will still feel the breeze—performances remain open to the elements—but they’ll gain year-round rehearsal and amenity spaces, proper acoustics and more accessible paths winding through restored meadows and wetlands.
“Hudson Valley Shakespeare’s new theater is designed to immerse audiences and actors in the rich landscape of the Hudson Valley,” Studio Gang founding partner Jeanne Gang said when the project broke ground. “The architecture weaves in elements of the natural environment to create a unique indoor-outdoor setting.”
The project transforms what was once a golf course into a biodiverse cultural campus, complete with picnic lawns, walking trails and a view-filled hilltop approach that builds a sense of discovery as you ascend. Landscape architects Nelson Byrd Woltz restored 14 acres of native grasses and planted more than 250 trees, while solar panels, natural ventilation and rainwater harvesting help keep the theater’s footprint light.
“This represents a watershed moment in our evolution from a seasonal festival to a cultural anchor for the Hudson Valley,” artistic director Davis McCallum, who’s led the company since 2014, said in a release. “We’ve been building toward this moment for more than five years and now I’m eagerly counting down the days until we can welcome audiences into our new home.”
Fittingly, the theater will debut with a trio of classics that nod to reinvention and renewal: As You Like It, King Lear and Les Misérables. Opening night arrives June 10, 2026, but anyone who’s ever picnicked under the old white tent knows the drama has already begun. The land itself, as always, remains the star of the show.