Posted November 5, 2025
HUDSON VALLEY SHAKESPEARE
CELEBRATES
THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY
COMMUNITY BAKE-OFF
WIRED FOR CONNECTION
WITH INGREDIENTS SELECTED by
OBIE AWARD WINNER & TONY AWARD NOMINEE
DAVE MALLOY
DIRECTED BY
JESS CHAYES
FEATURING SIX NEW PLAYS
READ BY PROFESSIONAL ACTORS
NOVEMBER 15 & 16, 2025
AT HUDSON VALLEY SHAKESPEARE
(November 5, 2025 – New York) Hudson Valley Shakespeare (HVS) (Davis McCallum,
Artistic Director; Kendra Ekelund, Managing Director) announced today the six plays selected for their 10th annual Community Bake-Off, following the theme of “Wired for Connection.” Directed by Jess Chayes (Off Peak), readings of the plays by professional actors will be held on Saturday, November 15 and Sunday, November 16 at Hudson Valley Shakespeare (2015 US-9) for an invited audience.
Created by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, a Bake-Off is a communal writing event in which writers are given a random list of “ingredients” to incorporate into a play (for example: a kitchen sink, a front porch, and a withheld secret) to help inspire creativity and give writers permission to play.
“Ten years ago, I told Davis McCallum about a playwriting exercise called the Bake-Off: 48 hour responses to plays, themes, and events written by a group,” said Paula Vogel. “Bake-Offs build community and give audience participants a sense of ownership in a theatre company. I am so proud of Hudson Valley Shakespeare for taking my dare to include the community in the making of a play.”
Under the direction of Associate Artistic Director and Director of Education Sean McNall and Associate Producer Christine Scarfuto, the last ten years of HVS Bake-Offs have resulted in over 1,000 community members participating in free playwriting workshops, nearly 500 submitted plays, and 65 plays selected and read by professional actors for 1,300 patrons. Directors Emma Went, Ryan Quinn, Duane Boutté, Susannah Milonzi, Noa Egozi. Kholoud Sawaf. Raz Golden, and Jess Chayes have all directed a number of these readings. HVS has also had many celebrated recipe curators, including Vogel, Sarah Ruhl, Heidi Armbruster, and this year’s Dave Malloy. The recipes are usually in conversation with a play or plays that HVS produced that year on the mainstage.
HVS has also partnered with many community organizations including Cold Spring’s Julia L. Butterfield Library, Garrison’s Desmond-Fish Public Library, Peekskill’s Field Library and New Era Creative Space, Tarrytown’s Warner Library, Newburgh Free Library, Mid-Hudson Library System, Paramount Hudson Valley Theater, Jacob Burns Film Center, Blodgett Memorial Library, Mahopac Public Library, Beekman Library, and Beacon Public Library.
“The HVS Bake-Off was created to give writers in the Hudson Valley a chance to take risks, explore new ideas, and see where their imagination leads,” says Sean McNall, HVS’s Associate Artistic Director and Director of Education. “Ten years later, it has grown into something much more—it’s about building a supportive community, sharing work with courage, and experiencing the joy of creating together. It’s not about perfection; it’s about the process, growth, and the connections we make along the way.”
“When we started this project 10 years ago, I don’t think any of us had any idea we’d still be doing it a decade later. How wonderful it is! Each year we host these playwriting workshops and I think they give people permission, space, and encouragement to write,” said Associate Producer Christine Scarfuto. “I truly believe that we are all artists, we are all writers, and the Bake Off embodies that idea. We’ve formed a beautiful community of writers—people who may not have thought of themselves as writers before right here in the Hudson Valley thanks to the Bake-Off.”
Obie Award winner and Tony Award nominee Dave Malloy (Octet; Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812) selected the ingredients for this year, which were inspired by his show Octet that explores digital life, spiritual yearning, and communal ritual—an ideal thematic framework for this milestone year. The ingredients, of which participants needed to use at least three, are Mirages, Mind Meld, Incompatible Operating Systems, Gods, Beauty of Maps!, A crystal ball, A cracked screen, Hiding, Umbrellas, and Mischief.
The 2025 10th annual Community Bake-Off plays will include:
Google Takes a Holiday
by David Lawter
It’s tough being the internet’s most popular search engine! Google decides to take a break from
its post on the internet and become human for the day, leaving all the humans without Google.
This play is a clever, funny take on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave emphasizing just how much
we’ve come to rely on the internet.
My Chart
by James O’Neill
A husband sits with his wife in a hospital waiting room, waiting for her test results. A poignant
reminder of the short, beautiful dance that is life, this heartbreaking, beautiful play is elegantly
written and deeply moving.
Incompatible Systems
by Loretta Oleck
A couple navigates the tensions and problems with their therapist, until we realize nothing. This
dystopian story plays on our fears of what might happen if AI takes over.
Analog Heart
by Maya Jordan
Set in a dystopian future where humans can routinely upgrade and exchange their organs, two
people awaiting an exchange forge an unlikely friendship. This is a beautifully wrought story
about the power of human connection.
Too Cold Out
by Rose Hollander
A mom tries to convince her teenage son, who is addicted to video games, to leave the house
and enjoy the real world. This true-to-life story feels so relevant in today’s world, and celebrates
the importance of engaging with the real world.
Eye of the Beholder
by Lila Louise Nawrocki
Set in a future where individuals can pay for “upgrades” to enhance the way they view the
world, a couple tries to reckon with their vastly different perspectives. This is a sweet, funny play
about how love helps us to see the world through each other’s eyes.
This project is made possible, in part, through the Putnam Arts Council’s Arts Link Grant
Program with public funds provided from Putnam County and is presented in partnership with
Mid-Hudson Library System.