Ian McKellen's Acting Shakespeare

Performed by Artistic Director and Resident Actor Kamran Saliani, this 90-minute blitz of a play blends Shakespeare’s greatest scenes and soliloquies with storytelling, history, and humor to explore how the Bard changed America forever.

Acting Shakespeare is an official revival of Sir Ian McKellen’s legendary solo show, presented with his personal blessing and enriched by insights from James Shapiro’s Shakespeare in a Divided America. The result is an intimate, powerful, and often hilarious journey through Shakespeare’s characters and the American stories they illuminate—accessible whether you’re a lifelong Shakespeare lover or seeing these plays for the first time.

100% of proceeds from donations go directly to support the mission of Irvington Shakespeare Company: Home of Rivertowns Playhouse—
“SHAKESPEARE FOR ALL” – professional, small-scale theater of the people, by the people, for the people.

In a world where a single Broadway ticket averages $129 and many working families have only about $55 a month for arts and culture, too many people are priced out of transformative theater. We’re here to change that. Our goal is to raise $15,000 to fuel our 2026 season of free, professional Shakespeare and community-centered programming—including accessible workshops, high-caliber productions, and events that remain open to all, regardless of income.

By attending this benefit and making a tax-deductible contribution, you help us:

• Keep admission free of charge for future productions
• Pay artists and staff a fair, dignified wage
• Expand access for audiences of all ages and abilities
• Strengthen a grassroots, community-driven alternative to profit-first Broadway and Hollywood

Our theater, Rivertowns Playhouse, is conveniently located near the Westchester Bee-Line buses at Broadway & Main Street and the Metro-North Hudson Line at Irvington, with free parking and wheelchair-accessible facilities.

Come spend an evening with Shakespeare at his most alive and immediate.