2014 Clarion Newsletter

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Dear Friends of Montana Shakespeare in the Parks,

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hat an incredible honor it is for me to address you as the new Artistic Director of Montana Shakespeare in the Parks. Having spent the past twelve years working with this amazing company as an actor, fight director, instructor, and director, I never would have thought it possible to be in this position — a position that for the past 37 years has been held by a man that created a tradition of excellence in producing professional theatre for the people of Montana and beyond. To step into the shoes worn by Joel Jahnke is a humbling experience. I look forward to embracing the challenge of forwarding his legacy into the future, and building upon this strong foundation of community engagement and outreach.

It’s thrilling to be in the process of producing MSIP’s 42nd summer season. Working through all of the details of production including design conferences, casting, marketing, and collaborating with our staff has been a learning experience to say the least. As an actor or fight director, I was unaware of this process, not fully cognizant of the complexities of managing a summer season. This is a testament to Joel’s ability to provide his artists with a level of comfort and ease, allowing for the most optimal creative experience which ultimately has inspired so many of us to return year after year.

Over the course of my twelve years with MSIP, I have built some of the most amazing friendships.

The bond that we all share has been solidified through our experience of touring through all of your remarkable towns. Every day an actor in Chicago, New York, Seattle, or LA shares a story of speaking Shakespeare on top of a butte in eastern Montana or describes the experience of engaging some of the most receptive audience members that they’ve ever played for. There are countless stories shared every day of driving thousands of miles across the rocky mountain region, enacting the wonderful world of Shakespeare under the big sky for communities that are unparalleled in their beauty and friendliness.

I learned much from Joel as an artist, collaborator, and educator. His ability to uncover the intricacies of humanity and humor in Shakespeare’s stories allowed for a stimulating rehearsal process that ultimately paved the way for an endless journey of creative discovery while on tour.

Much of that sense of discovery, or newness, was created as a direct result of the uniqueness of each community. Every town dramatically informed the overall interpretation of our stories. I believe that this is what makes MSIP so inspiring for all involved: the influence and input we receive from you and your communities. I am very much looking forward to the opportunity of getting to know you all, the audience, the volunteers, and the supporters, without whom this company would not exist.

Sincerely,

Kevin Asselin

Executive Artistic Director, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks

Photo by Kelly gorham, MSU

Presenting the 2014 summer tour F REE . . . EVER Y

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TOUR

TOUR “These violent delights have violent ends.”

ACT II, SCENE VI

W I L L I A M

S H A K E S P E A R E ’ S

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ROMEO

“And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.”

J ULIET

ACT II, SCENE I

W I L L I A M

SH A K ES P E A RE ’ S

A S Y O U L I K E I T

J o i n t h e c o n v e r s at i o n : # m s i p 2 0 1 4 Montana Shakespeare in the Parks is a theatrical outreach program of Montana State University-Bozeman. The Company’s mission is to bring quality, live theatre productions of Shakespeare and other classics to as many communities in Montana and vicinity as possible with an emphasis on small, underserved rural areas. All performances are free and open to the public.

The Clarion is published annually. MSIP - P.O. Box 174120, Bozeman, MT 59717

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Interview with the directors

Kevin Asselin As You Like It What inspired you to choose As You Like It?

piano, a music stand, and composition sheets, and composes all through rehearsal, writing down music that he will either fine tune or completely scrap later.

The reason that the relationship is so strong between us is because as a director, I never have enough information about a production until I’m in a room with a group of artists who help to inform the overall direction of our concept. Davis, as an artist, works in the same collaborative spirit, needing to be in the same room with a group of artists in order to discover the overall sound of a production.

As with all Shakespeare plays, thematically, in As You Like It, there’s a strong relevance to what is happening in our contemporary world, what has happened throughout history, and what resonates most with our audiences. Moreover, the different themes that resonate in this play, I believe, are relevant to the population of Montana.

It’s important to me when I choose a play to find ways to make it accessible to our immediate audiences. When I was trying to figure out what play I wanted to direct, I came across the documentary, Butte America, and watched it several times. I realized as I watched there was a strong correlation to As You Like It and the world Shakespeare presents. So in that search for relevancy that’s specific to the population of Montana and accessing As You Like It in a new and interesting way that would exploit Shakespeare’s most prevalent themes, I thought the concept of marrying As You Like It with Butte, America – or Butte, Montana, in 1917, would be a great way to invite our audiences into the world of the play.

What do you think our audiences will get out of it? What will they take away?

Photo by Kelly gorham, MSU

“I don’t want people to think

What are the themes in As You Like It you’d like to draw out and how are they relevant?

There’s a duality in As You Like It — the struggle between an urban and rural lifestyle. It’s the idea of leaving the corruption, the congestion, the overwhelming feeling of a capitalistic society — for nature, which is more balanced and therapeutic. In As You Like It, one of the themes is that by choosing to live within a natural environment, we can be restored to a sense of balance and rightness through the conversation with the uncorrupted world of nature.

that a rural world is any greater than an urban world.

My only hope is that people find a way to seek balance

Why 1917 Butte?

At that point in time, Butte was at the height of living up to its title as the “richest hill on earth”. And ironically enough, it also experienced a devastating time in history: the Granite Mountain Disaster in which 168 miners lost their lives. Also at that time, the capitalistic society was at its height in Butte because of the demands that the government put on them to support World War I. So while the rich were getting richer, the poor were getting poorer. In As You Like It, there is a direct correlation with the two sets of brothers. One brother, on each side, is living this money-driven lifestyle while the other brother is more integrated with the commoners, or in our 1917 Butte world, the miners and the union workers.

and rightness in their lives.”

How will this be represented on stage?

We’ll see that visually through costumes, through the distressed quality of the lower class in juxtaposition with the polish of the upper class. I’m also interested in the character of Jaques in As You Like It. For me, I imagine that Jaques is Frank Little.

Who’s Frank Little?

In 1917, Frank Little was hung for being an outspoken, radical union leader for the Industrial Workers of the World union, the IWW. I like to imagine that Jaques represents what Frank Little might have become had he not been lynched.

How will you represent northwest Montana on stage?

By relying on Tom Watson’s scenic design elements, we hope to display a contrast between a copper world and that of a more serene world of the northwest pines. Musically too — we’ll be incorporating jazz themes: up-tempo, urban sounds in contrast to the more traditional folk songs, folk themes that would exist in a more rural environment.

Who is composing your music?

Davis Good. He’s currently a graduate student in musical composition at Carnegie Mellon. He’s worked with me pretty extensively in the last five shows I’ve directed. What’s great about Davis is that he insists on being at every rehearsal. As I work with the actors to try things that may or may not work, he composes music that may or may not work. So, as a documentarian would film hundreds of hours of footage and only choose an hour and a half to feature, Davis will write much more than he needs with the understanding that he will only choose material that will work for the final production. He sits in every rehearsal with no

F fr o m t h e d e a n S

hakespeare in the Parks has been a part of Montana’s DNA since 1973, and I am honored to welcome you to another season of free Shakespeare under the Big Sky. This season is particularly special as we welcome Kevin Asselin as our new Executive Artistic Director. He’s a familiar face to all of you, having worked with MSIP for the past 12 years while also making a name for himself on and off stages throughout the country. Please join me in welcoming Kevin, and in looking forward to many more years of these timeless stories brought directly to your communities. From our home at the College of Arts and Architecture at Montana State University to yours, welcome to another rousing season of Shakespeare in the Parks.

I don’t want people to think that a rural world is any greater than an urban world. My only hope is that people find a way to seek balance and rightness in their lives — and if that means finding a way to escape to an environment as the characters in As You Like It do — whether they stay or return — they know how to restore their sense of balance. The themes of love are also important. Clearly Shakespeare is placing a lot of focus on the duality of rural vs. urban, but he’s also putting a focus on the realities of love, and the idea that being in love, is not perfect. Rosalind is quick to remind us through the entire play that there are struggles, compromise, and the need for communication in love. Characters like Orlando and Silvius, for example, can be perceived as idealistic in their views of love. Rosalind seeks to teach us a form of love that exists in the real world, one that comes with a stronger sense of union and delight. All the women in this play really help to guide men to understand how to become more attentive and caring as lovers. Not unlike in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, the women in this play school the men.

Any special surprises in store?

We’re going to incorporate live music. A good number of our actors are also accomplished musicians. Live music is going to accompany the set change between the urban world and the rural world. The live sound is going to help our audience know when we’re shifting from one world to the next. And as nature can help to unite us and provide us with a sense of balance, music helps to alleviate our sense of angst and dismay, providing us with a sense of release and openness, which is why Shakespeare incorporated so many songs into the play.

You played Oliver and LeBeau in the 2003 production of As You Like It with MSIP and you’ve also performed in two other productions of As You Like It, including Bill Brown’s 2008 production at Writer’s Theater in Chicago. How will those experiences come to bear on directing the play in 2014?

I take great pride in my overall theater education, most especially the influence of working with strongminded directors like Bill Brown and Joel Jahnke. Having had the experience of working on this play in two different productions with both of those directors, I feel that I have a great sense of the overall movement of the play, the qualities and themes, and the relationships between the characters. Both experiences have helped to guide me to understand the importance of finding relevancy with a play like As You Like It, as well for that matter, all of Shakespeare’s plays.

In As You Like It, Rosalind, Celia, and Touchstone have to find a new world for themselves. You have just picked up your life and made a new world for yourself here in Montana. Do you feel any affinity for these characters because of this?

In any kind of big move or drastic shift in life, it’s always accompanied by a sense of apprehension and fear coupled with an incredible sense of curiosity, excitement, and adventure. What’s interesting about Celia, Rosalind, and Touchstone, even though they’re being forced to retreat to an unknown place, is that Shakespeare gives them language that shows them existing in a place of excitement, too — all the while dealing with a sense of loss. I can relate because every move I’ve made in my life has always had a great deal of curiosity and excitement, but has also included a sense of loss. And as an actor for six tours, I’ve experienced many of the rural and urban landscapes in Montana, and as Shakespeare accentuates the need for balance, I feel a connection with that need for balance between urban and rural, too.

Bobby Bowman As You Like It Adam / Corin Romeo & Juliet Friar

Nate Cheeseman As You Like It Orlando Romeo & Juliet Benvolio

Nancy C. Cornwell Dean, MSU College of Arts and Architecture

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Join the conversation. #msip2014 Twitter: www.twitter.com/MTShakespeare Instagram: www.instagram.com/mtshakes Facebook: www.facebook.com/montanashakespeareintheparks

Rebecca Hurd As You Like It Audrey/Celia Romeo & Juliet Juliet

Erik Pearson As You Like It Duke Frederick/ Duke Senior Romeo & Juliet Capulet

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Will Dickerson Romeo & Juliet So why Romeo and Juliet and why now?

I think Shakespeare is very deliberately reminds you of the constant, inevitable forward march of time towards these two beautiful young people’s deaths. It makes for extraordinary dramatic tension. Frankly, I think some productions of this play lose sight of that dramatic tension — they rely instead on the fight scenes. I mean, yes we know that if we like romance, we’re going to enjoy the balcony scene, but what’s compelling about that scene is the underlying sense of dread, I think it should be like watching a beautiful disaster. Conflict is there from the start. Juliet says from the top, “I wish you had another name. I wish you weren’t who you are.”

I’ve seen a few productions of Romeo and Juliet, and they’re all interesting in their own way, but it’s struck me every time that it’s actually a pretty difficult play to do. The story, although beautiful — a passionate love story about two young people — is also quite dark and strange. I wanted to have the chance to explore that and to try to answer some of the questions I have about the story: how is the terrible end inevitable? Why does the friar make the choices he makes? I’m also aware that one of the strengths of the company is the youthful vitality of our actors.

It seemed like a great show to have this season where we could really rely on the strength of these young passionate performers who come out to work with us.

What other themes will you try to draw out of this production?

What were some qualities you were looking for in your leads?

I’ll start with Romeo. Some of his language is nearly impossible to say honestly and with a straight face.

Like what?

Like, “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.” To be able to say that honestly and genuinely in a way that doesn’t make you less attractive than you were before you started speaking is not an easy thing to do. So I was very lucky to find an actor who had already worked for us, who I suspected might actually be able to carry it off. The first time he read those lines I thought, “Perfect. I don’t know how you do it, but perfect.”

What about Juliet?

Juliet is particularly difficult because she has to both seem very, very young, but at the same time, more sophisticated than Romeo. I think if you spend any time with the play, one thing becomes evident: Juliet does a lot to forward the dramatic action. She has to have a very deep well of strength and determination.

It’s difficult to find both of those things: someone who at the beginning of the play looks very, very young, and yet, by the end of the play, I have to believe that she has the strength of purpose to rebel against her father and mother, fake her own death,and finally take her own life.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m very interested in the Friar’s story. I’ve always been curious about this guy who is clearly meant to be a really good dude. Romeo certainly goes to him for help. He wants peace between the Montagues and the Capulets very badly. But this is the same guy, who at the end of the play, finds Juliet in the tomb with Romeo who’s dead, and he runs off and abandons her.

I’m interested in who that person is. What is happening at the end of the play that paralyzes him, and what causes him to run away?

I’m also fascinated by the juxtaposition of religion — the rules and customs of religion in contrast to the impulsiveness and passion of youth, young love, and the violence of youth.

What kind of experience do you have with this play, and how will that come to bear on this production?

I did a touring production of this show for Chicago Shakespeare Theater. I attempted a Romeo monologue one time and was told never to try that again. I’ve seen it a few times and I read it in high school and recognized something familiar in the story even then. It’s iconic to me in the same way it’s iconic to everyone else. I’m interested in moving past that and finding the story of Romeo and Juliet that will play best for our audiences in Montana.

How do you prepare yourself to direct a play before the first day of rehearsal? How much do you know going in? How much do you pre-plan going in?

How are you going to indicate the strictures of the world that Juliet lives in?

Some of it is done for you. Romeo’s allowed to roam the streets and crash parties. He has all these friends that he gets to hang out with. And Juliet — we only ever see her in the context of her mother, her nurse, and her father. She isn’t given the same kind of freedoms that Romeo has. There’s only one time that she gets to socialize and it’s within a very formal and structured dance. So the story lends itself to that. And of course, I’m working with a really amazing costume designer, Claudia Boddy. We’re talking about how to differentiate between the freedom of men in this very masculine, male-dominated society and the restraints that are put upon the women.

A lot of the preparation is in reading the play and reading what critics and others have said about the play. I digest that, and then I read through the play and edit it. We definitely have to do a lot of editing in order to make it playable for 10 actors and in order to make sure that it will be clear and playable in two hours. That editing process allows me to also highlight the themes that I think are most valuable for the production that I’m interested in staging. From there, I talk to my designers, work with them, and they help me begin to visualize what the play will be. And then I hit a brick wall until the actors arrive. When I finally hear their voices, from that point until opening night is a heady, collaborative whirlwind. It’s very much a collaborative work.

Where are you setting it and why?

People often ask if the director goes on tour with the actors. Why don’t you?

We are definitely trying to create a world that is not modern, that lives sometime in the past — where we believe there would be things like swords and sword-fights and princes who would banish you. When Shakespeare set this play in “fair Verona” it isn’t likely that his audiences would have had a clear, realistic concept of what Verona was really like. It would have suggested to them a place full of passion, a place that was warmer than where they live, and a place where there were these family blood rivalries. So, for our purposes, we’re going to do it much in the way Shakespeare did it. We have our beautiful stage and we’re going to place things on the stage that suggest the passage of time, and to give a sense of another place — a place that has ancient grudges, and where there can be heightened passions of love and violence.

It is hard to distill the costume design, but I can make two promises: No tights, gorgeous gowns.

I do have the luxury of living in Montana, so I do get to go out and see them in some of my favorite places on tour. I guess the really true and short answer is that I have a family that needs me and the actors don’t need me any more.

The play takes place in the course of a week. You’ve used a beautiful Prague astronomical clock as inspiration and possibly as a centerpiece of your set. Why is it so important to indicate the passage of time in a really visual way?

You first met Kevin, the new Artistic Director, when you were both actors in The Two Gentlemen of Verona at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in 2000, Now you’re working together again in a much different capacity far away from Illinois. What’s that like?

It’s not that I’m trying to indicate how many days it’s been. I’m toying with the idea of being really explicit with the passage of time because the play has all this language that describes it — more than many other plays. Julius Caesar has a lot of references to time because it also is marching towards an inevitable end.

R and J — and there are movies like this — it tells you right in the beginning — “so and so dies a horrible death.” You know right from the start that you’re heading toward disaster. I think that’s important, and

Why don’t the actors need you anymore?

Once the show opens up, there are opportunities for me to give notes or make suggestions, but really at that point, it is understood that the show belongs to those actors. They do learn a lot on the road about what works and what doesn’t work, and on tour, they have time to make more discoveries about what the motivation of their characters might be.

I think you do your best work when you feel that you are trusted and respected, it gives you permission to not be safe in your work — to take chances and to explore ideas. So the opportunity to work with someone whom I’ve known and respected for so long is an opportunity to push myself to really tell the story in a clear, compelling way.

Michael Gonring

Joanna Harmon

Casey Hoekstra

Company Manager

As You Like It Rosalind

As You Like It Oliver

Romeo & Juliet Lady Capulet

Romeo & Juliet Romeo

As You Like It Charles / Silvius Romeo & Juliet Peter, Paris

2 0 1 4 A c t i n g c o m pa n y Andrew Rathgeber

Vanessa Sawson

Kaelan Strouse

As You Like It Touchstone

As You Like It Phoebe

As You Like It Jaques

Romeo & Juliet Mercutio

Romeo & Juliet Lady Montague / Nurse

Romeo & Juliet Tybalt

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Designer’s Sketchbook

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e asked our talented designers, Claudia Boddy and Tom Watson, to give us a peek into their process as they create the amazing costumes and sets for Shakespeare in the Parks.

d r a m at u r g i cal n o t e s by Dr. Gretchen Minton As You Like It

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ften people picture Shakespeare as a stuffy Englishman with a ruffed collar who surely did not get his hands dirty. On the contrary, Shakespeare was a country boy who grew up in the provincial area known as Warwickshire and was directly connected to farming, hunting, and glove-making. His plays and poetry are full of references to flowers, trees, birds, and streams that could have been written only by someone who felt a deep connection to nature. It is not surprising, therefore, that when Shakespeare’s company premiered As You Like It at Queen Elizabeth’s court in 1599, even though he had been living in London for more than a decade, he still meditated upon what life in a place called the Forest of Arden might have to offer.

Set design for The Tempest, 2009

The vast majority of As You Like It takes place in this forest. The rightful ruler, Duke Senior, has been deposed and exiled, so he has fled to the woods with his courtiers; together, they embrace a world free from the corruption, flattery, and intrigues of the more “civilized” court. Most of the play’s other characters eventually flee into this green world as well: Duke Senior’s daughter Rosalind, her cousin Celia, the clown Touchstone, the disinherited Orlando, and his treacherous brother Oliver. The dichotomy between court and country was of great interest to Shakespeare, also explored in plays such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and King Lear.

Tom Watson, Set Designer

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hat makes designing for MSIP different is that we have a touring stage with an architectural structure that doesn’t change. So designing for it has to include the structure itself which is a different challenge than designing for a blank canvas. It’s a lot of fun to try to innovate new and different ways to work within those parameters. Sometimes the set becomes a façade that hangs on top of the structure and sometimes it grows organically out of the stage. It’s always fun to try to not repeat anything we’ve done before.

Set design for The Merry Wives of Windsor, 2007

It is immediately striking that the forest of As You Like It is inhabited by people who are more gentle than the supposed gentlemen of the court. Duke Senior spends his time philosophizing, surrounded by sympathetic listeners who sing songs and embrace the contemplative life. Their positive view of the wilderness, in which they find “tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, / Sermons in stones, and good in everything,” offers a model of decorum in striking contrast to Duke Frederick’s court.

Nonetheless, Shakespeare is always willing to call into question such simplistic portraits of nature; through the cynical character Jaques, we are also invited to realize that Duke Senior and his followers, as well as Rosalind and hers, are actually usurpers of a sort. They have moved into a forest that has its own native inhabitants—both the deer who die to furnish their food, and shepherds such as Corin and Silvius, who immediately are put into the service of Rosalind and Celia. Orlando is similarly oblivious to his impact upon the ecosystem when he carves love verses to Rosalind into the barks of trees.

Nonetheless, while the denizens of the forest have some impact upon their environment, the natural world returns the favor, transforming all of the young people in the course of the play, helping them to pair off. Rosalind, clearly the central character, is first metamorphosed by love when she sees Orlando wrestle at court; the notion that Cupid’s arrows pierced innocent victims, transforming them into lovers, was a well-established literary trope. Yet Rosalind emerges as one of Shakespeare’s strongest women because, although she could be seen as a victim, lovestruck and also banished by her uncle, her flight to the forest allows her important freedoms. There she disguises her gender and identity—a prudent action for safety, but also a device which allows her to manipulate Orlando and discover more about his feelings for her. As an androgynous boy, Rosalind becomes saucy and outspoken, arguing that love is foolish, but she also makes an unexpected agreement with Orlando whereby his love can be cured by pretending that this boy Ganymede is actually Rosalind and attempting to woo him. In this world of make-believe, Rosalind is able to rehearse the sorrows and triumphs of love.

Rosalind’s deft shape-shifting highlights the most famous lines of the play: “All the world’s a stage, / And all the men and women are merely players.” Seen in the context of love’s triumph at the end of this comedy, this sentiment seems happy enough, but because it is spoken by Jaques as part of a meditation upon all the stages of life, these central lines give us the opportunity to pause and consider what part all of us play in the great drama of history, both personal and communal. Jaques notes the seven “ages” of man: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, old age, oblivion. This speech is sobering, to say the least, because it acknowledges the inextricable link between living and dying—something that is easier to see, and perhaps to accept, when one is connected to nature.

Rosalind, savvy role-player that she is, puts on one last show in order to make sure that everyone will live happily ever after. In 1599, when women were not actors on stage, the power of the female character who takes control of the last scene is remarkable.

Her final metamorphosis is to transform back into the woman that she is, with help from what might even be supernatural forces.

Ultimately, therefore, the conclusion of the play brings together the magic of nature and the magic of the theatre. Neither nature nor theatre can save us from oblivion, but they both have the power to teach us about how to live and love in the interim.

Romeo and Juliet

Claudia Boddy, Costume Designer

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ecause Romeo and Juliet is the most famous love story of all time, audiences come to this play knowing what will happen. Those who first saw Shakespeare’s play in 1596 London would have also been familiar with this plotline, but even if anyone had been unaware of the tragic outcome, Shakespeare wrote the opening Chorus in order to give the ultimate spoiler alert, telling the ending of the story before it has even started. We attend a performance or open our texts of Romeo and Juliet not because we wonder about the plot, but instead to experience the unfolding of this inevitable tragedy. But why is it that we are drawn to this story, that we want to watch these poor teenagers commit suicide just at the moment they have truly begun to live?

Romeo and Juliet abounds with quotations that we recognize, such as “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”, “A plague on both your houses,” and “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” This play is so often the first Shakespearean work that students read not only because the protagonists are young, but also because the language is infused with relatable metaphors, images, and adverbs that so expertly express meaning.

In the youthful exuberance of feeling love for the first time, people often find themselves tongue-tied, but such is not the case here. The play revels in the relationship between poetry and love, which is why the characters so often speak in rhyme. Shakespeare was writing his famous love sonnets around this time, so he employed this poetic form in Romeo and Juliet as well; the initial conversation between the lovers demonstrates love at first sight through their alternating lines, which create a sonnet. These poetic moments are even more striking because they are interspersed with the homey prose of the Nurse and the dense fiery metaphors of Mercutio. In the midst of a complicated and potentially violent world, in which antagonists meet each other on the street, spoiling for a fight, the drama also, miraculously, presents an extended poem which gives life and breath to the ecstasy of being in love.

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love the process of starting with words in a script and words a director will say to you.

That will then become a drawing and that, in turn, will become a fully realized three dimensional costume on an actor. In between of course there is research, shopping, pattern making, cutting, fitting, sewing, dying, distressing sometimes and voila a costume that should tell you many things about the character. This is what’s exciting about designing costumes; it is never boring.

Rosalind’s costumes in As You Like It must contrast from an elegant young lady to a boy to a wedding dress all set in 1917 Butte and NorthWest Montana.

Juliet’s costume is for the coming out party her parents have organized to introduce her to the social scene and Paris in particular.

For Romeo and Juliet, the experience of love is something holy. They speak of vows, pilgrims, heresy, shrines, saints, angels, idolatry, and confession. Such religious language gives their love significance and transcendence, but despite the good intentions of the Friar, religion itself fails the lovers; they secretly marry to cement their vows, but even the holy sacrament of marriage is unable to protect the couple.

Romeo and Juliet have no other source of protection either. The institution of the family breaks down, for Juliet’s cruel father refuses to listen to what she has to say and forces her into a premature marriage with Paris that leads her to desperate action. Romeo’s young male friends are interested only in making sexual jokes and asserting that one woman is as good as another, and Juliet’s Nurse similarly advises her to forget Romeo and marry Paris. Even Verona itself is scarred by strife, which is embodied in the ancient feud between the Capulets and the Montagues that is in many ways the cause of this tragedy. It would be natural for Romeo and Juliet to eschew the unsupportive world of Verona, but the ties are so strong that there is no escape, which is why Romeo equates banishment with death.

The only escape for Romeo and Juliet is through death itself. The Chorus tells us that these “starcrossed” lovers will die, and the play rarely entertains any hope that it could have been otherwise. In some sense, Romeo and Juliet were always marked for death, perhaps precisely because they dared to love to such extremities. The characters have nightmares in which they see one another in tombs, and when the Friar gives Juliet a drug that will make her appear dead, it is a foreshadowing of what will happen to her by the end of the play. At the play’s conclusion, the lovers die in a tomb, as if to emphasize the fact that they had already been dead for some time. Finally reconciling as a result of this tragedy, Capulet and Montague erect statues to commemorate their children, who are at last able to lie together in peace, united in death.

The grave bed might seem cold comfort; a few decades after Shakespeare wrote this play, poet Andrew Marvell expressed just this skepticism: “The grave’s a fine and private place, / But none, I think, do there embrace.”

Although the play ends with references to monuments and statues, these lovers, who died upon a kiss, could never be turned to stone. Their story lives on precisely because what we remember when we think of this play is not the death, but the ecstatic love poetry. The play affirms love because it affirms the language that allows us to express such intense feelings. No matter how many times it is staged or read, Romeo and Juliet still invokes the wonder of a world in which a young man looks at his love and imagines her as the sun itself: “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?”

Dr. Minton is the Dramaturg for Shakespeare in the Parks and is also an Associate Professor of English at Montana State University

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s h ak e s p e a r e i n t h e s c h o o l s *Over hill, over dale, Through bush, through briar, Over peak, over pale, Through flood, through fire, I do wander everywhere.

---Fairy Act II, Scene 1

We Do Wander Everywhere!

2014 Shakespeare in the Schools (SIS) program, under the direction of new Executive Artistic Director Kevin Asselin, brings A Midsummer Night’s Dream to middle and high schools across the region. With its fine balance of comedy, drama, and fantasy, Midsummer highlights themes of forgiveness, faithfulness, jealousy, and the universality of love and nature. The production will be set in modern day Greece; romance, magic and plenty of live music are sure to capture the interest and imagination of our young audiences. The 75 minute production will tour October 10 through December 19, 2014, and will be accompanied by 4 new and exciting workshops.

Booking begins May 1, reserve YOUR spot now

SIS booking begins in early spring before the end of the school year. If you are interested in bringing A Midsummer Night’s Dream with accompanying workshops to your school in fall of 2014, give us a call now to reserve a spot. Call Lila Michael at (406) 994-3310 or email her at lila.michael@montana.edu

We Tour to Serve

The educational tours of MSIP, Montana Shakes! and Shakespeare in the Schools, are unique in the nation. We travel an elementary school tour with 3 seasoned actor-educators who perform in 55 schools to over 9,000 students. Our Shakespeare in the Schools tour, for high school and middle school students, brings eight actor-educators who perform a Shakespearian play and teach on-your-feet educational workshops almost every day for almost three months. Last year, SIS reached 49 schools and played to over 12,000 young people.

MSIP’s educational outreach programs bring live, beautifully costumed, professionally acted productions into rural communities that might otherwise not have the opportunity. This could not be done without the generous support of individuals and grantors.

Many thanks to the Montana Arts Council: Artists In Schools and Communities, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Foundation, the Homer A. and Mildred S. Scott Foundation, the Beim Foundation, and The Sidney E. Frank Foundation, The Charles A. Weyerhaeuser and individuals like you for your generous support.

Photo by Ashley Stevick photography

What They Are Saying About

Montana Shakes!

I was very impressed with Montana Shakes. It was great having someone who could work so well with my kindergartners and that they were also able to understand. ~ Teacher, Potomac School, Bonner, MT

sunburst cut bank WHITEFISH

Clark fork

columbia falls kila

conrad

Noxon trout creek Thompson polson Falls

augusta

st. Ignatius

great falls

wolf point frazer

Seely lake alberton Frenchtown lincoln Bonner missoula drummond florence helena

geyser

jordan

White sulphur Springs

terry

roundup

wibaux

miles city baker

Forsyth melville

ekalaka

cardwell THree forks clyde colstrip billings manhattan park Big whitehall Timber belgrade amsterdam lame deer laurel bozeman absarokee gallatin gateway Hardin livingston Park City ennis roberts lodge grass big sky Sheridan Joliet Pray belfry Gardiner

big horn basin

MEETEETSE

Towns visited by Montana shakes!

2008-2014

broadus

ranchester Sheridan

cody wapiti

Towns visited by shakespeare in the schools 1993-2013

A great opportunity to provide some culture to a fairly isolated student body. I love that your actors get the kids involved in the show; it makes a real impact for those kids. ~Teacher, Cloud Peak Middle School, Basin, WY

moore

powell

Towns visited by both Montana shakes! and shakespeare in the schools 1993-2014

poplar Bainville fairview sidney

lewistown

hobson

stevensville Victor townsend corvallis Hamiltonanaconda boulder butte

minifred

Photo by danielle wineman

culbertson

Geraldine

highwood belt

Simms

plentywood

Malta

DUTTON fort benton

plains

darby

scobey

gildford havre rudyard box elder rocky boy

clearmont

manderson buffalo worland

ten sleep

The kids look forward to Montana Shakes every year! The plays are great and the workshops are so developed and wonderful! Thank you!

This year’s MT Shakes presentation was the best yet! During the performance, the teaching points were explicit and clear, but somehow integrated perfectly into the performance. Well done! You managed to present in 45 minutes what I’ve been working on teaching all year.

~Teacher, Darby Elementary School, Darby, MT

~Teacher, Longfellow School, Bozeman, MT

jackson

afton

Montana Shakes!

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hakes! introduces kids K-6 to Shakespeare in a delightful and accessible way, blending Bard with a boisterous 30-minute play and talk back. The 2014 program featured scenes from 12th Night, while teaching core theatrical concepts of theme, setting and character. Common Core standards were addressed in some educational Common Core with our Words-work Verse, Costuming the Character, and Fighting Words workshops.

Montana Shakes! turned 6 this year. Five more dates were added to the tour and 8 new schools. With three stellar actors, one Ford Expedition and an immeasurable amount of energy, this tour visited 55 schools in 11 weeks. The intrepid troupe played to over 9,000 students across Montana and Wyoming and taught hundreds of educational workshops.

Look for us spring 2015, Montana Shakes! will be back with a brand new play and workshops from mid-March through late May. Don’t miss out, call Lila Michael 406-994-3310 to talk dates for your school, or send her an email at lila.michael@montana.edu

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Sp s p e c i al e v e n t s

The Robben Island Bible I

Adam POSS

playwright Matthew hahn

minita gandhi

travis knight

n celebration of the 450th birthday of Shakespeare and the 20th anniversary of the election of Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa, Shakespeare in the Parks, in collaboration with MSU’s Honors College and the College of Arts and Architecture, presented a staged reading of The Robben Island Bible between April 15-17. Performances were free and open to the public. A special performance, open to local schoolchildren, was also held on Thursday, April 17.

The “Robben Island Bible” was the name given to a volume of “The Complete Works of Shakespeare” surreptitiously distributed among the prisoners of the now infamous Robben Island Prison, including the late Nelson Mandela who was held there for 18 years before the fall of apartheid. The play is based on selected texts from South African Sonny Venkatrathnam’s copy of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare,” as well as interviews with former political prisoners held on the island prison.

A cast of four actors selected from top-tier American regional theaters was brought in to perform in the play, directed by Kevin Asselin. About 500 people attended the performances in all.

The Elise EVENT Photo by orange photographie

W

hat do supporter Elise Donohue, gypsy jazz band Montana Manouche, and a loveable old dog named Crab all have in common? They were all present for the 2013 Elise Event in Bozeman! The evening was a sold out hit, full of the excellent comedy of Kevin Asselin’s production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona, swinging jazz and plenty of delicious food and wine.

Elise Donohue, the event’s namesake, has been generously supporting this special night for 12 years. Her patronage has helped make it possible for Shakespeare in the Schools to soar.

The 2014 Elise Event will feature a magical Midsummer Night’s Dream set in modern day Greece. Luscious costume designs by Montana Shakespeare in the Parks resident costumer Claudia Boddy and live Russian folk music insure that this production will be Some of the cast of The Two Gentlemen of a feast for the eyes and Verona take a bow at the 2013 Elise Event. the ears. Following the performance there will be a talk back with the actors, designers and director. A catered party featuring tasty hors d’oeuvres and beverages will follow. The 2014 Elise Event is scheduled for November 1st at MSU Black Box Theater in Bozeman, tickets are limited and go quickly. For more information call (406) 994-3303 or visit our website at www.shakespeareintheparks.org

keith bolden

Paul prescott, kevin asselin, aj & Melissa leon, and paul edmonson at the shakespeare theatre association conference

Shakespeare on the Road

B

etween August 1 and 4 this summer, Shakespeare in the Parks will be part of a British invasion. Paul Edmonson from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford upon Avon and Paul Prescott from The University of Warwick along with media partners, Misfit-Inc., will stop in Montana as a part of their Shakespeare on the Road project, celebrating Shakespeare’s 450th birthday in 2014. Visiting 14 North American Shakespeare festivals from The Oregon Shakespeare Festival to the Stratford Festival in Canada to the Harlem Shakespeare Festival in New York, this crew will interview and film actors, directors, and audience members to help discover why Shakespeare thrives as he does here ‘across the pond’ 450 years after his birth. A website, documentary, and book are all being created in conjunction with this Shakespearean road trip. For more information, or to follow the fun, go to www.shakespeareontheroad.com.

“Neighbor, this is a gift very grateful, I am sure of it.”

sharon and Michael Beehler

A Midwinter Night’s Dream

O

n February 15, a new gala event made a glittering debut in the Black Box Theater.

A Midwinter Night’s Dream brought together music, theatre, dance, good food and drink all in support of Shakespeare in the Parks. Sponsored by Michael and Sharon Beehler, the event exceeded its fundraising goal by 10% through ticket sales, sponsorships, and live and silent auction sales.

The centerpiece of the event was a lecture/performance, Fathers and Son. Led by Dr. Gretchen Minton, Fathers and Son presented scenes from Henry IV parts 1 and 2 in two contrasting performances. The scenes were directed by new Executive Artistic Director, Kevin Asselin, and the event also served as his introduction to the Shakespeare in the Parks community. A fantastic time was had by all in support of a wonderful cause.

Photo by Ashley Stevick photography

The Taming of the Shrew

Become an MSIP Insider Join The Artistic Director’s Circle

T

his newly established membership to support Montana Shakespeare in the Parks offers “insider” benefits in return for your sustaining support. By committing to a minimum donation of $1,000 a year, you will receive news updates before they go public as well as exclusive invitations to meet MSIP Artistic Director Kevin Asselin, members of the acting companies, designers and the crews “behind the scenes”.

You will also be recognized on our website and in a special section of the MSIP summer program. The more you give, the more exclusive insider benefits you receive!

There Are Many Ways to Give Cash, Check, Credit Card

So easy to set up a monthly payment program.

Employer Matching Gift Programs

Find out if your company participates.

Planned Gifts

Make a gift that provides tax benefits and even life income.

For more information on joining The Artistic Director’s Circle, and details on the many ways to give, please contact Senior Development Director Moira Keshishian at 406.994.3272 or moira.keshishian@msuaf.org or visit the MSUAF Planned Giving MSUAF website at: montanastate.giftlegacy.com

colter langan and kevin asselin demonstrate stage combat technique during the live auction

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2014 tour c o o r d i n at o r s Big Timber

Chuck Jensen FVCC Student Government and Theater Department

Big Sky

Cut Bank

Hobson-Utica

Fort Benton

Lewistown

Great Falls

Brian Hurlbut Arts Council of Big Sky

Juanita Meeks Cut Bank Area Chamber of Commerce

Pat Hodge Fredrickson and Linda Deegan Hobson-Utica Fine Arts Council Linda Tullis Lewistown Art Center

Karyn Giles Friends of Shakespeare in the Parks Kelly Wiles Great Falls Supports Shakespeare in the Parks

Havre

Anaconda

Denise Brewer Montana State University-Northern

Mitch Grady Friends of the Hearst Free Library

Sidney

Helena

Wolf Point

Belgrade

Malta

Superior

Benjamin L. Clark MonDak Heritage Center

Alison James Helena Shakespeare in the Parks

Mike MacDonald Wolf Point Shakespeare in the Park

Steve Klotz City of Belgrade

Dee Shettel Little Rockies Arts Association

Jim Goss Mineral County Performing Arts Council (MCPAC)

Glendive

Plains

Bruce Russell Friends of Makoshika

Mary Lou Hermes Plains Women’s Club

Beach, ND

Trout Creek

Wade and Deb Walworth Cedar Liquors

Elizabeth Wormwood Trout Creek Community Improvement Association

Miles City

Libby

Susanne Galbraith American Association of University Women – Miles City Branch

Eileen Carney Rotary Club of Kootenai Valley

Forsyth

Rita Collins Sunburst Community Service Foundation

Hardin

Dominic Farrenkopf Sapphire Lutheran Homes

Susan Wolfe Forsyth Friends of Shakespeare

Eureka

Hamilton

Janie Morissette Friends of Shakespeare in the Parks – Hard Cooke City-Silver Gate

Heidi Barrett Residents of Silver Gate and Cooke City Chico Hot Springs

Colin Davis Chico Hot Springs Resort and Day Spa

Boulder

Karen Davidson Boulder Arts Council Seeley Lake

Scott Milner Alpine Artisans, Inc. – 2 Valleys Stage Liberty Lake

Red Lodge

Laura Frank Friends of Pavillion Park

Worland, WY

Caroline Myhre Ninepipe Arts Group

Sheridan, WY

Adrianne Donald The University of Montana, University Center

Sue Logan Carbon County Arts Guild

Charlo

Cheryl Reichelt Washakie Museum and Cultural Center Dick and Tami Davis Tandem Productions

Deer Lodge

Laurel Fjell Friends of Shakespeare

John O’Donnell Old Prison Museums (Powell County Museums & Artsfound, Inc)

Colstrip

Salmon, ID

Powell, WY

Butte

Rick Harbin Colstrip Park and Recreation District

Steve Schrepferman Park County Arts Council

Caroline Stivers Salmon Arts Council George Everett Mainstreet Uptown Butte

Cody, WY

Manhattan

Steve Schrepferman Park County Arts Council

Tammy Machowicz-Olsztyn Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce

Absarokee

Townsend

Shirley Schatz Absaroka Fine Arts

Mary Alice Upton Townsend Area Chamber of Commerce

Billings

Laurel

Jon Thompson Billings Parks and Recreation

Jean Kerr Laurel Shakespeare in the Park

Gardiner

Columbus

Laura A. Williams Community of Gardiner

Robert M. Smith Friends of the Stillwater County Library

Dillon

Roundup

Christina Peltier UM Western School of Outreach Thayne, WY

Bill Milton Roundup Arts and Culture Committee of the Musselshell Valley Community

Driggs, ID

Lisa Graham Whitehall Chamber of Commerce

Mirinda Clapier Star Valley Arts Council

Whitehall

Linda Lopez Downtown Driggs Community Association

Sweet Pea – Bozeman

Kelly Erickson Sweet Pea Festival Philipsburg

Treacy Foundation

Missoula

Birney

Mark Neiwirth Pocatello Arts Council

2014 tour sponsors

Kalispell

Kathy Agnew Sweet Grass Arts Alliance

Pocatello, ID

Livingston

Kelley Dowdell The Shane Lalani Center for the Arts West Yellowstone

Carrie Pope West Yellowstone Foundation Bozeman

Chancey Ringer MSU Family and Graduate Housing

Janice Gross Flint Creek Valley Arts Council

J o i n t h e c o n v e r s at i o n : #m s ip 2 0 1 4

2014 MSIP Advisory Board

Staff

Rob Friestadt MSIP Board President, teacher, business owner, Helena Dave Lyman Community volunteer, Heron Debbie Lyman Community volunteer, Heron Jean Dahlman Retired Director, Literary Council, rancher, Forsyth Dick Kuntz Retired Assistant Superintendent of Public Schools, 6-12, Great Falls

Kevin Asselin Executive Artistic Director Stephany Flakker Business Manager Lila Michael Production Manager Susan Miller Dickerson Managing Director Meghan Missett Administrative Assistant

Contact Us

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Chuck Tooley Former mayor, business owner, Billings Joanie Tooley Former publisher of The New Republic, Billings Dave Haas MSU alum, Powell Art Wittich Attorney, Senator, Bozeman Elise Donohue Rancher, Clyde Park

Claudia Boddy Resident Costume Designer Tom Watson Resident Scenic Designer Robert Rath Graphic Design J-Tech Communications Website Design

Montana Shakespeare in the Parks PO Box 174120 Bozeman, MT 59717-4120 info@shakespeareintheparks.org

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 69 Bozeman, MT 59715

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Montana Shakespeare in the Parks PO Box 174120 - 258 Black Box Theater Bozeman MT 59717-4120 406.994.3901 www.shakespeareintheparks.org

iI n t r o d u c i n g the 2014 summer t to ou ur r M o n ta n a S h ak e s p e a r e i n t h e P a r k s

S u m m e r 2 0 1 4 T o u r Sc h e d u l e

JUNE 18 Bozeman 19 Bozeman 20 Bozeman 21 Bozeman 25 Bozeman 26 Bozeman 27 Bozeman 28 Bozeman 30 Big Timber

AYLI AYLI AYLI AYLI R&J R&J R&J R&J R&J

8:00pm 8:00pm 8:00pm 8:00pm 8:00pm 8:00pm 8:00pm 8:00pm 6:30pm

MSU-Grove MSU-Grove MSU-Grove MSU-Grove MSU-Grove MSU-Grove MSU-Grove MSU-Grove Lions Club Park

JULY 1 Big Sky AYLI 6:30pm Town Center Park 2 Hobson-Utica R&J 6:30pm Utica Clubhouse Lawn 3 Lewistown AYLI 6:30pm Elks Clubhouse at the

Pine Meadows Golf Course 4 Havre R&J 6:30pm Pepin Park 5 Sidney AYLI 6:30pm Veteran’s Park 6 Wolf Point AYLI 6:30pm Faith Home Park 7 Malta AYLI 6:00pm PC Courthouse Lawn 8 Glendive R&J 6:00pm Makoshika Amphitheater 9 Beach, ND AYLI 6:00pm Beach Swimming Pool Park 10 Miles City R&J 6:30pm Pumping Plant Park 11 Forsyth R&J 6:00pm Rosebud County

Courthouse East Lawn 12 Hardin AYLI 6:00pm South Park

(Corner of Lewis and Division) 13 Cooke City / Silver Gate R&J 6:00pm Silver Gate Park 14 Chico Hot Springs AYLI 6:30pm Main Lawn 15 Red Lodge R&J 6:30pm Lions Park 17 Worland, WY R&J 6:30pm Sanders Park

18 Sheridan, WY 19 Birney 20 Colstrip 21 Powell, WY 22 Cody, WY 23 Absarokee 24 Billings 25 Billings 26 Gardiner 27 Dillon 28 Thayne, WY 29 Driggs, ID 30 Pocatello, ID 31 Pocatello, ID

t he

6:00pm 6:30pm 6:00pm 6:30pm 6:30pm 6:30pm 6:00pm 6:00pm 6:00pm 6:00pm 6:30pm 6:30pm 6:30pm 6:30pm

Kendrick Park Poker Jim Butte Rye Park Pavilion Washington Park Canal Park Fishtail Family Park Pioneer Park Pioneer Park Arch Park JayCee Park Soccer Field Driggs City Center Plaza Idaho State University Quad Idaho State University Quad

AUGUST 1 Sweet Pea Bozeman

R&J 4:30pm Lindley Park

3 Sweet Pea Bozeman

AYLI 4:30pm Lindley Park

*Admission is charged to attend the Sweet Pea Festival

13 Belgrade AYLI 6:00pm 14 Superior AYLI 6:00pm

15 Plains R&J 6:00pm 16 Trout Creek AYLI 6:00pm 17 Libby AYLI 6:00pm

18 Eureka R&J 6:00pm 19 Hamilton AYLI 6:00pm 20 Boulder AYLI 6:00pm 22 Seeley Lake AYLI 6:00pm 23 Liberty Lake, WA AYLI 5:00pm 24 Charlo AYLI 6:00pm 25 Missoula R&J 6:00pm 26 Missoula AYLI 6:00pm 27 Deer Lodge R&J 6:00pm 28 Salmon, ID AYLI 6:00pm

29 Butte AYLI 6:00pm 30 Manhattan R&J 6:00pm 31 Townsend R&J 6:00pm

Lewis & Clark Park Mineral County Fairgrounds (near the school) Sanders County Fairgrounds Trout Creek Park Libby Elementary School Amphitheater Historic Village Sapphire Lutheran Homes Fairgrounds Double Arrow Lodge Grounds Pavilion Park Palmer Park University of Montana Oval University of Montana Oval Old Montana Prison Yard Sacajawea Center Amphitheater Original Mineyard Altenbrand Park Heritage Park

*Admission is charged to attend the Sweet Pea Festival

4 Philipsburg 5 Kalispell 6 Cut Bank 7 Ft. Benton 8 Great Falls 9 Great Falls 10 Anaconda 11 Helena 12 Helena

F REE . . . EVER Y

J o in

AYLI R&J R&J R&J AYLI AYLI R&J AYLI R&J AYLI AYLI R&J AYLI R&J

R&J AYLI AYLI R&J R&J AYLI R&J AYLI R&J

6:00pm 6:00pm 6:00pm 6:00pm 6:00pm 6:00pm 6:00pm 6:00pm 6:00pm

Winninghoff Park Flathead Valley Community College Cut Bank City Park Ft. Benton City Park University of Great Falls University of Great Falls Washoe Park Pioneer Park (next to L&C Library) Pioneer Park (next to L&C Library)

SUMMER

SEPTEMBER 1 Laurel 2 Columbus 3 Roundup 4 Whitehall 5 Livingston 6 West Yellowstone 7 Bozeman

f o r

c o n v e r s at i o n :

R&J 6:00pm Laurel Practice Football Field R&J 6:00pm Heritage Park R&J 6:00pm Roundup City Park AYLI 6:00pm 206 Yellowstone Road R&J 6:00pm Shane Center R&J 6:00pm Town Park AYLI 1:00pm MSU-Grove

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#ms ip2014