English Renaissance theater will come to life at Pugsley Park on July 25. Located at 1036 Main St., the park will serve as the setting for a new outdoor performance. Acting Shakespeare: A One-Man Musical is a one-man show that seeks to bring the work of William Shakespeare to diverse audiences through music, humor and contemporary storytelling. The performance is scheduled from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and will be open to the public, free of charge.
The presentation is part of a collaboration among the City of Peekskill Planning and Development Department, the Peekskill Arts Council and Peekskill Parks and Recreation. According to organizers, the event also seeks to position Pugsley Park as a platform for cultural and artistic activities. This is in addition to strengthening community life and promoting the shared use of the city’s public spaces.
The production is an official revival of the historic solo performance created by British actor Sir Ian McKellen. The new production was developed with the actor’s personal approval and adapted for contemporary audiences through an American perspective. The version incorporates music, comedy and contemporary cultural references to offer a different approach to some of the English playwright’s best-known texts.
The production is performed by Kamran Saliani, founder and artistic director of Irvington Shakespeare Company. During the 90-minute performance, Saliani combines Shakespeare scenes and soliloquies with historical narratives, commentary on theatrical tradition and original musical parodies inspired by the work of comedian and musician Bo Burnham. The production also incorporates excerpts from the book Shakespeare in a Divided America by historian and scholar James Shapiro.
The project was designed to introduce Shakespeare’s work to people who may be attending this type of theatrical performance for the first time. The production moves away from an exclusively academic view of the playwright and presents his texts as tools for exploring contemporary themes related to community, identity and collective experience.
“This project is about bringing professional theater directly into public spaces and making Shakespeare feel alive, immediate, and available to everyone,” Saliani said in information distributed to announce the event. The actor also highlighted the park’s qualities as a venue for a theatrical experience centered on community and interaction between artists and audiences.
Saliani is an Iranian-American theater artist born in the Hudson Valley and a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama. His work as an actor and producer was recognized in 2023 with the Westchester Wunderkind Award and, that same year, the Westchester County Board of Legislators proclaimed May 25 as “Kamran Saliani Day.”
According to its creators, Acting Shakespeare: A One-Man Musical was conceived as a high-impact production with minimal logistical requirements, a characteristic that facilitates its presentation in parks, libraries, schools and small theaters. This portable format allows professional productions to be brought to community spaces with greater flexibility and lower operating costs, expanding public access to the performing arts.
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