Montana Shakespeare in the Parks will travel to 65 communities in five states — Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, Washington and Wyoming — this summer to perform two classic Shakespeare plays.
For its 52nd season, the traveling theater group, which is an outreach program of Montana State University’s College of Arts and Architecture, will feature “Hamlet” and “The Winter’s Tale.”
“Hamlet,” one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, tells the story of the young prince of Denmark who returns home after his father’s murder and must grapple with the weight of his responsibility to avenge that death, to outmaneuver his scheming uncle and “to be or not to be.”
A bit lighter, with more comedy and an abundance of magic, “The Winter’s Tale” spans 16 years during which a jealous king accuses his wife of infidelity and exiles his daughter to Bohemia, where she is raised by shepherds and falls in love with the Bohemian king’s son. It also features Shakespeare’s stage direction “exit, pursued by a bear,” which the MSIP staff thought was fun and relevant to communities in the Northern Rocky Mountains.
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The acting troupe’s schedule in southwest Montana is featured below.
AUGUST
Dillon: 6 p.m., Aug. 2, “Winter’s Tale,” Montana Western Legacy Plaza
Deer Lodge: 6 p.m., Aug. 3, “Hamlet,” Old Montana Prison Yard
Philipsburg: 5:30 p.m., Aug. 30, “Winter’s Tale,” Winninghoff Park
Anaconda: 5 p.m., Aug. 31, “Hamlet,” Washoe Park
SEPTEMBER
Butte: 5 p.m., Sept. 2, “Hamlet,” Stodden Park
Boulder: 5:30 p.m., Sept. 4, “Hamlet,” Jefferson County Fairgrounds
Whitehall: 5 p.m., Sept. 8, “Hamlet,” Star Theatre (Main Street Green)
Twin Bridges: 5:30 p.m., Sept 9, “Winter’s Tale,” soccer field at Riverside Park
For more details, visit shakespeareintheparks.org.
