We boarded our Ford rental and dialed the year mechanism back
in time. We fortuitously landed in the
early 19th century when Jane Austen was publishing her iconic books
to find ourselves in picturesque Garrison, New York overlooking the Hudson
Heights where Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was being performed as part of the Hudson
Valley Shakespeare Festival. The journey
back in time took us through the verdant hills of Connecticut and then New
York, arriving at our hotel for an overnight stay only to realize we forgot something
important: we were supposed to pack our folding chairs for the atmospheric
picnic on the sprawling lawn which everyone enjoys before the evening performance
as well as for a talk by the author herself, Kate Hamill, who also stars as the
irresistible Lizzy in the play. What to
do? Wal-Mart to the rescue! So we dialed back to 2017 and a nearby Wal-Mart
super store where we found two inexpensive folding chairs. What a way to start a time journey.
Back to the early 19th century we strolled
from the parking lot of the Boscobel House and Gardens, through a rose garden
no less, where a Shakespearean tent and stage has been erected for the summer. We found a perfect little table for our
dinner, Ann with her requisite Cabernet, with dainty chairs already provided. Who knew? So, we ate and enjoyed watching others set up
blankets and chairs on the lawn for their own feasts.
Meanwhile a table (and more chairs!) was set up for a
rare and sparkling interview with Kate Hamill who we learned is now in the
process of creating adaptations of all of Jane Austen’s works, Ann having
already loved her first inventive endeavor, Sense
and Sensibility at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre in Washington last year. Hamill comes to authorship via way of the
stage and she is a damn good actress, saving the centerpiece role of Lizzy for
herself of course (why not, she’s the boss, and she fits and acts the part
perfectly!). Hamill is to the left in the photo below.
After her talk and some time for the picnickers to finish
while the sun was setting to the west of West Point which can be seen in the distance,
we went to the tent to find our seats and enjoy the show. I’m not writing a full blown review. Hamill has chosen farce as the ideal vehicle
to present the work, has appropriately “killed off” Kitty who is really
superfluous to a dramatized version, and has several male members playing two
or more roles, including some of the female roles. The characters are now almost caricatures. We’re talking belly laughs at times, a
riotous, imaginative adaptation, but one which left us feeling it was somewhat irreverent. But that is merely a personal opinion, preferring
a more straight forward dramatization.
Of course we have enjoyed it many times on film and only once on stage
in London, so Hamill’s production was certainly different. The acting and directing was what you would
expect from experienced Shakespearean actors.
So, all in all, it was a wonderful evening.
Afterwards, we set our time clock back to the 21st
century and drove to our hotel on the winding dark roads. In the morning, we were really looking
forward to visiting the real star of the weekend, a tour of Boscobel
itself.
After checking out, back to the
early 19th century and the magnificent, unique, beautiful Boscobel
House. This home was built in Montrose,
NY in 1808 and after being scheduled for complete demolition in the mid 1950s
was rescued, piece by piece, by a historical-minded group of locals, including
an endowment from The Readers Digest cofounder and was painstakingly moved to its
present site in Garrison, some 15 miles away, with a similar view of the
Hudson. No expense was spared over the
years to reproduce with precision the way the house looked when its original
owner, Morris Dyckman, built it and furnished it between 1804 and 1808, only a
few years before Pride and Prejudice
was first published. From the floorings,
the furniture to the wallpaper, all recreated either by hand or reproduced down
to the most exacting detail. All
perfection.
The home itself, with its views, is breathtakingly elegant,
and beautifully maintained with historical exactitude. One gets a very real sense during the small group
tour of what it must have been like to live in those times, albeit as a very
wealthy person, Boscobel not being your run-of-the-mill abode. There was much ingenuity as to how natural
light and ventilation are used and simple contrivances to make their lives a
little easier. Alas, no Internet or
plumbing or central heating, but much reading, music, card playing, camaraderie,
pleasures we of the 21st century survivors club have somewhat left behind. 
There was a astute appreciation of history, architecture
and the Federal style furniture which made this home stand out in its unusual neoclassical
design. It is as memorable as our tours
of Emily Dickinson’s home, Thomas Jefferson’s, The Biltmore in Asheville and
many others we’ve visited over the years, maybe more so because of the meticulousness
of how it’s been preserved. Where original
artifacts were not longer extant, they’ve been carefully reproduced. Absolutely nothing has been ignored in this
process. A mere look at the 200+ year
old wind up Grandfather clock, with its original mechanism and still operating,
speaks volumes about the care to preserve history.
After the tour we again took in the breathtaking views of
the Hudson Heights and West Point, explored the gardens and then went into nearby
Cold Spring to have a late lunch at the Hudson House which has been in
operation since 1832, only one year before the Collected Works of Jane Austen was first published, some 15 years
after her death. Her works have never
gone out of print since. Naturally,
Hudson House is on the Hudson River so we were still well ensconced in the 19th
century before dialing 2017 on our Ford time machine, climbing and gliding down
the winding, hilly back roads, returning to our interim home at our boat club
in Connecticut.
