Fiercely devoted to the community

Catskill Mountain Shakespeare weaves the timeless beauty of classic texts into the fabric of our community. Nestled within the beauty of the Catskill mountains, we source existing locations that offer a stage for our performances, infrastructure, accessibility, and a breathtaking landscape, all while leaving a minimal carbon footprint.

Through the magic of live art and the power of vibrant storytelling, we strive to create a shared space for the local community, weekenders, and visitors alike. Catskill Mountain Shakespeare is committed to fostering diversity, inclusion, and equity for all, ensuring that our cultural offerings reflect the rich tapestry of our region.

With a fierce devotion to community engagement and the stunning backdrop of the Catskills, our vision is to evolve into a cultural hub, a place where enthusiasts from every walk of life can gather, share, and revel in the transformative experience of the arts. Catskill Mountain Shakespeare aims to be the heartbeat of our community, pulsating with the energy of shared arts experiences and enriching the lives of all who call this region home.

Catskill Mountain Shakespeare is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company.

Born in 2020

Che Kabia as Sebastian & Yansa Fatima as Viola in Twelfth Night, 2021

Jackson Goad as Demetrius & Abram Blau as Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2022

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 marked our 5th year anniversary. Thanks to funding from the Shakespeare in American Communities grant, we launched an inaugural 3-week Community Tour of The Tempest, visiting local schools and community venues throughout the region in April. Our main stage production of Julius Caesar ran outdoors and under the tent for 12 performances in July. Finally, we premiered the Catskill Mountain Shakespeare Youth Company (CMS YOCO) in August. This week-long summer intensive, taught by CMS professionals, included text work, voice, improv, theater games, and stagecraft for youth grades 6-12, culminating in an abridged outdoor production of Hamlet.

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.

Committed to advancing the work of anti-racism

Catskill Mountain Shakespeare recognizes the devastating consequences of racism and systemic oppression within the theater community and across our country.

We acknowledge that there is an urgent need for change in our industry, and we want to respond to this call to action as an organization.

We strive to be active participants in the movement towards anti-racism and care deeply about creating and sharing stories and programs that are inclusive, equitable, and just.

CMS is committed to advancing the work of anti-racism, throughout our organization, through the following:

Actively searching out and listening to the stories and experiences of our BIPOC and Global Majority theater and Catskills community members, and evolving our offerings in response to these interactions and dialogues.
Combatting racism through inclusive and equitable representation on and off stage.
Prioritizing the diversification of our staff, Board, artists, and artisans.
Acknowledging that this work is ongoing and that there is always more for us to learn.

We invite you to share any further insight, inquiries and questions with us at info@catskillmountainshakespeare.com.