Hudson Shakespeare Company

The tradition & historical record

The Hudson Shakespeare Company is a regional Shakespeare touring festival based in Jersey City in Hudson County, New Jersey, that produces an annual summer Shakespeare in the Park festival and often features lesser done Shakespeare works such as The Two Noble Kinsmen and Timon of Athens. The company also produces several modern-day productions in non theatrical venues such as their courtroom shows of Inherit the Wind and A Few Good Men in the Hoboken Municipal Courtroom. It produce a yearly educational program that ranges from student workshops to full length Shakespeare productions. ¹

In 1992, Jersey City native L. Robert "Luther" Johnson decided to mount a staged reading of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in Hamilton Park in Jersey City. Having worked as a technical consultant for such companies as Riverside Shakespeare and New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players in New York, Johnson remarked "I noticed that when you were on one side of the Hudson you couldn't walk five feet without finding a company of actors doing Shakespeare, but on this side of the river there was nothing." He partnered with several theatrical friends who he had worked with previously in such community theaters as the Park Players of Union City and Civic Theater of Hudson County in Jersey City for this first production under the banner of "Hudson Shakespeare Company", named after Hudson County. While this first production featured "13 people on stage and 5 in the audience, he was undeterred and continued to produce Shakespeare under "Hudson Shakespeare Company" and modern works such as Driving Miss Daisy and Waiting for Godot under "Patchwork Theater Company". In 1996, Johnson met fellow actor and director Jon Ciccarelli and the two reorganized all of the classical and modern productions under "Hudson Shakespeare Company". For the next few years, the company produced Shakespeare and modern programs in Jersey City and Hoboken and became the first theatrical company to produce a live theater showing at Hoboken's Frank Sinatra Park with another production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1998. In 2002, the company began touring to Hackensack, South Orange, and as far away as Stratford, Connecticut. Main stay venues such as Kenilworth and Fort Lee followed in 2004 and 2007 respectively. ¹

Hudson Shakespeare Company has become known for tackling lesser known works and questionable works of the Bard. According to the artistic director, Jon Ciccarelli, "“Each season we try to produce at least one play that you’ve either never heard of or we put a different spin on known works of Shakespeare.” Lesser known plays tackled by the company: Edward III (2016), Arden of Faversham, (2015) Henry VIII (2013), Cardenio (based on Double Falsehood) (2012), Timon of Athens (2011), Troilus and Cressida (2009), King John (2008), The Two Noble Kinsmen (2007), Coriolanus (2004), Cymbeline (2004 & 2014), Pericles (2006 & 2014), Titus Andronicus (2003 & 2013). ¹

The following is a list of active venues where the company performs during an average run for a summer production. ¹

Hamilton Park – Located at 9th Street and Jersey Avenue, this is the company's original performance space. HSC partners with the Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association and usually performs in front of the park's gazebo. In case of inclement weather, performances are held under the gazebo. Van Vorst Park – Located in the downtown section of Jersey City at Montgomery Street and Jersey Avenue, next to the main branch of the Jersey City library. HSC partners with the Friends of Van Vorst Park Association. Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery – At 435 Newark Avenue, the cemetery is the oldest in the city and contains remains dating back to before the revolutionary war. HSC partners with the all volunteer group to raise funds for the cemetery's upkeep. ¹

Frank Sinatra Park – Located at 400 Frank Sinatra Drive, the venue is Hoboken's main venue for live music and theater acts. All HSC theater programs are produced with the Hoboken Division of Cultural Affairs[link removed] which schedules, concerts, films and a semi-annual arts and music festival taking place in May and September. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Hudson Shakespeare Company”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Hudson Shakespeare Company is recorded in open cultural data. The structured record cited below does not describe the practice, and this entry has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. ²