Woodstock’s Outdoor Shakespeare Festival Will Celebrate 31st Year

 Bird-On-A-Cliff Theatre Company has announced its landmark 31st season of the Woodstock Shakespeare Festival, which kicked off on Friday, July 31st, 2026, on the town-owned Comeau property.

This year's production will bring a bold new concept to the open-air stage: a gritty, stylized Roaring 20s gangster-themed version of William Shakespeare's early comedy, The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Directed by David Aston-Reese, this fast-paced production takes audiences from glittering, jazz-age settings to lawless, underground territory, utilizing a chaotic backdrop of mistaken identities, rebellious outlaws, and a dramatic test of lifelong friendship.

Perched on the historic Comeau Property—just a short stroll from Woodstock's village green—performances will run Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 5:30 PM through Labor Day Weekend (September 6th).

"Bring a blanket, bring a chair, bring a picnic," says co-founder Elli Michaels. "We invite everyone to grab a spot on the grass and lose themselves in this timeless adventure. Because the curtain falls just as Woodstock's vibrant nightlife begins, it's the perfect anchor for a summer evening." 

The festival and the company itself are the creations of Elli Michaels and David Aston-Reese, a couple who first met as working actors in New York City. Driven by a deep love for the local community that began when Michaels first visited the area around the time of the historic 1969 Woodstock concert, the duo sought to bring elite, professional theater to the Catskills. Before establishing their permanent open-air Elizabethan stage, the company pushed artistic boundaries at the Byrdcliffe Theater, even staging a historic, highly unusual production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot with an all-female cast.

Bird-On-A-Cliff is a celebrated cultural institution, keeping world-class theater completely accessible to the public on an outdoor stage bracketed by lush green woods. Admission remains entirely free.