All Riverdale’s a Stage
9/14/2026
Dr. Sarah Stevenson Helps Launch New Community Theatre Company Bringing Free Shakespeare to the Bronx
It all began with a Winter walk across the University of Mount Saint Vincent’s campus—and a little imagination.
On a crisp day last December, Professor of English Sarah Stevenson, PhD found herself looking across the Great Lawn and seeing something more than the familiar beauty of the Mount’s 70-acre campus. She saw a stage.
“I stopped and looked around on the Great Lawn and thought, this campus would be such an amazing setting for Shakespeare,” Dr. Stevenson recalled. “I had visions of Hamlet in front of the Castle, The Tempest on the Point, As You Like It up in the forested areas by the grotto.”
As if on cue, Vice President for Operations Kevin DeGroat happened to walk by. Dr. Stevenson shared her idea, and Kevin’s enthusiastic positive response helped set something much larger in motion.
Less than a year later, Shakespeare arrived at the Mount.
This Summer marked the debut of the Riverdale Shakespeare Players, a new community theatre collaboration between the University of Mount Saint Vincent, the Riverdale Repertory Company at the Riverdale Y, and Christ Church Riverdale. With a mission to bring free outdoor Shakespeare to audiences throughout the neighborhood, the Players launched their inaugural season with an abridged, 90-minute production of one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The production ran from August 27 through 30 at three venues across Riverdale—beginning right here at UMSV before traveling to the Riverdale Y and Christ Church Riverdale.
And if the Players’ first production was any indication, Riverdale is ready for an encore!
Dr. Stevenson had been imagining a community Shakespeare company for some time, but that December walk helped transform the idea from a what if? into something tangible.
She began discussing the possibility with administrators and colleagues here at the Mount, including Provost and Dean of Faculty Lynne Bongiovanni, PhD, Vice Provost and Dean of the Undergraduate College Gabrielle Occhiogrosso, EdD, and faculty across the School of Humanities, Communication, and Art.
At almost exactly the same time, Dr. Stevenson’s friend Esther Cohen—a Riverdale-based actress and director with whom she had recently co-directed a teen production of the musical Bright Star—was exploring an idea of her own: creating a local outdoor Shakespeare company.
But there was one more coincidence: both had independently imagined A Midsummer Night’s Dream as the perfect first production.
They joined forces as directors, and the Riverdale Shakespeare Players began to take shape.
For Dr. Stevenson, their first production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream captured exactly what they hoped the new company could offer.
“Our goal was to emphasize the joy of creativity and the importance of community,” she said. “We wanted to evoke a world of transformation—to play with the magic of the fairies, yes, but also the magic of love, the magic of community, and, fundamentally, the magic of theatre.”
That spirit carried into the Players’ approach to the production. Rather than asking audiences to come to a single traditional theatre, the company brought Shakespeare directly into the community—adapting each performance to its surroundings and inviting neighbors to arrive with lawn chairs, blankets, picnic baskets, and a willingness to join in the fun. Each venue became part of the production itself.
“The different performance sites gave us the opportunity to embed each production in a different space, using the landscape itself as a character,” Dr. Stevenson explained. “Each audience was very personal in that sense and had a bond among them, which enabled the greater creation of a bond with the players—which, ultimately, is what theatre is about.”
Naturally, the Riverdale Shakespeare Players’ first performance began where Dr. Stevenson’s vision first took shape: at UMSV.
The company originally planned to transform Grace Plaza into its first outdoor stage, welcoming guests onto the lawn. Mother Nature, however, had her own flair for the dramatic.
An epic rainstorm, as Dr. Stevenson put it, forced the Players inside to Hayes Auditorium—but it certainly didn’t dampen the enthusiasm. Some 80 audience members braved the weather for opening night at the Mount.
And while the rain may have postponed Grace Plaza’s Shakespearean debut, it certainly did not cancel it. A technical rehearsal on the lawn had already given the Players a glimpse of what the space could become.
“Our technical rehearsal on the Grace Plaza lawn confirmed that it was a wonderful space to perform, and that it will be a beautiful place for audiences to gather with family and friends to experience our future productions,” Dr. Stevenson added.
The production then moved to the back patio of the Riverdale Y, where another 90 people attended. By the final performance at Christ Church Riverdale, word had spread and approximately 160 people filled the church lawn.
For a brand-new, volunteer-run company presenting its first production on a budget of less than $1,500—and with only 10 weeks to bring it all together—the response was more than the Players could have imagined.
And the Mount’s connection to the inaugural production extended beyond serving as an opening-night venue.
Dr. Stevenson has been a member of the UMSV faculty for 25 years, teaching theatre within the English Department and introducing generations of students to drama not simply as words on a page, but as a living, collaborative art form.
In her Plays in Performance course, students explore theatre as both literature and performance, examining how acting, directing, design, and other theatrical elements interact with a script to create a fully realized work of art. Through the course, Dr. Stevenson has taken students to their first Broadway performances and guided them as they develop their own theatrical visions through group adaptation projects presented in Cahill Theatre.
Her work with the Riverdale Shakespeare Players represents a natural extension of that philosophy—and an opportunity to invite the surrounding community into the creativity happening at the Mount.
“I have been witness to so much incredible student and faculty creative work—in writing, music, visual arts, and theatre—as well as watching the Mount’s campus get more and more beautiful with each passing year,” Dr. Stevenson said. “I’m so excited by the idea of bringing the community on campus to experience the magic that we know is here.”
And one additional member of the Mount community was already helping create some of that magic.
Recent UMSV graduate Steven Pena ’26 joined the Players’ inaugural company. Dr. Stevenson had previously worked with Steven in the classroom, making the opportunity to collaborate as fellow artists particularly meaningful.
“He brought a spirit of creativity as well as a comic theatricality to the role of Peter Quince that was delightful to see,” she said.
As the Players look toward future seasons, Dr. Stevenson hopes Steven will be the first of many members of the Mount community to become involved, with opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and alumnae/i across the disciplines to contribute both onstage and behind the scenes.
Riverdale already boasts a thriving arts community—from youth and community theatre to choral groups, live music, and popular outdoor cultural events. But Dr. Stevenson and her collaborators noticed something missing.
Free summer Shakespeare companies have taken root throughout New York City, while the Bronx has historically had fewer opportunities of its own. The Players saw an opportunity to add something new to Riverdale’s already vibrant cultural landscape—and to make Shakespeare accessible to neighbors without requiring a ticket, a trip downtown, or a lucky lottery draw.
What they discovered over those three performances was an appetite not only for Shakespeare, but for opportunities to simply gather together. More importantly, the experience reaffirmed the power of live performance to create genuine connection.
“Outdoor theatre brings communities together for a shared experience that is exactly what our world needs today,” Dr. Stevenson reflected.
For the Riverdale Shakespeare Players, A Midsummer Night’s Dream was only Act I.
The company is spending the Fall formalizing its structure and beginning plans for its Summer 2027 season, all while developing fundraising and marketing strategies that will allow the Players to grow.
With a full year to prepare for its second season, the company hopes to deepen their network of support, expand participation, and continue building toward an even larger dream: establishing an annual Shakespeare Festival right here in Riverdale.
“We can’t wait to gather our neighbors next summer on Grace Plaza and throughout Riverdale for another summer of Shakespeare,” Dr. Stevenson exclaimed.
For more updates on the Riverdale Shakespeare Players, follow them on Instagram @riverdale.shakespeare.
About the University of Mount Saint Vincent
Founded in 1847 by the Sisters of Charity, the University of Mount Saint Vincent offers a nationally recognized liberal arts education and a select array of professional fields of study on a landmark campus overlooking the Hudson River. Committed to the education of the whole person, and enriched by the unparalleled cultural, educational, and career opportunities of New York City, the University equips students with the knowledge, skills, and experiences necessary for lives of achievement, professional accomplishment, and leadership in the 21st century.