Boscobel, 2018: Richard II

The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival will perform Richard II at this year's YWAA Boscobel outing, Aug., 19 (HVSF photos)

YWAA returns to Boscobel in Garrison, N.Y., Sunday, Aug.  19, hosting an afternoon of lecture and picnic outing before the evening culminates with a Shakespeare performance of Richard II by the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival.  

The afternoon lineup features the pre-show lecture from Yale lecturer Murray Biggs, who for years has prepped Yale alumni and guests with colorful insights and special watch tips before they ventured over to the big white tent at Boscobel for the evening production. 

Yale alumni and guests will also have a chance to lounge on the grounds of Boscobel and observe summertime scenes on the Hudson River shores before the actors take the stage. 

The Murray lecture at the Hastings Center starts at 4:30 pm.  The Richard II performance follows at 7:30 pm (after the picnic).

To purchase tickets for the lecture and performance, click YALE-WESTCHESTER and follow instructions. Or contact YWAA board member Rich Fabbro '76 at 914-391-3707. 

Davis McCallum directs the HSVF's Richard II, and Richard II himself will be portrayed by actress Julia Coffey, not unusual when the HSVF presents its interpretations of Shakespeare's works. 

In early July, Wall Street Journal critic Terry Teachout called Coffey's performance of the king as "distinctive" while "pivoting from arrogance to desperation so smoothly."   He also praises director McCallum's staging:  "(McCallum) works his usual visual wonders--no director in America is more adept at moving around a big cast."

In years past, YWAA-Boscobel has hosted outings of such performances as The General from America, Macbeth, Othello, The Winter's Tale, All's Well That Ends Well, and Hamlet.