New theater gets Roscoe into the act

By Adriana Serafino | Manor Ink

Roscoe, NY – Live theater is coming to this hamlet famous for its fly fishing creeks, sylvan beauty and trout history. In time, Roscoe may well also be known for its stage presentations and skilled thespians.

The Catskill Public Theater is a new dramatic venue set to open in 2024. Its first presentations will be on a mobile stage set up in Roscoe-Rockland Firemans Field next summer.

Manor Ink spoke with the theater’s founder and managing director, Marshall Shnider, about the new venue’s development and his plans for it.

“The genesis of the Catskill Public Theater comes from the fact that I’ve been wanting to circle back to my creative roots,” Shnider said. He trained as an actor at the Juilliard School in Manhattan and worked in theater and television before becoming an aquaculture specialist. Now that Shnider wishes to get back into stage presentations, he sees this area as a good environment for quality free theater.

“The mission of the Catskill Public Theater is to present free-admission, live theater to local audiences,” said Shnider.

The theater will also offer open acting classes starting in the spring. The theater’s Acting Academy will open on May 6, 2024, and each class will consist of 16 sessions, meeting Mondays and Thursdays from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at Livingston Manor Central School. At the conclusion of the classes in June, the theater will hold a recital for an invited audience of friends and family.

In July, the theater will stage its first play, a drama titled “Terror” written by Ferdinand von Schirach. The plot concerns a pilot put on trial for his actions during what appeared to be a terror attack, and the audience gets to act as the jury, deciding the defendant’s guilt or innocence.

To learn more about the Catskill Public Theater and its acting classes, visit catskillpublictheater.com or email CatskillPublicTheater@gmail.com.