Shakespeare in the Schools tours Montana schools
‘Romeo and Juliet’ featured in this year's Shakespeare in the Schools statewide tour
BOZEMAN (ML) — Montana Shakespeare in the Schools will enter its 27th season of showcasing classic theatre to youths in Montana with a tour of “Romeo and Juliet” opening Oct. 4.
Romeo and Juliet will be performed before almost 12,000 students in communities throughout Montana and Wyoming, and several public performances will also be offered (see schedule below).
The 10-week tour will run through mid-December and is the first of two educational outreach programs offered during the academic year by Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, which is based in Montana State University’s College of Arts and Architecture. Montana Shakes!, a program designed for elementary school children, will tour early February to early May.
To accommodate schools’ scheduling needs, productions are trimmed to 80 minutes, along with workshops for students that relate to the play. William Brown, the Chicago Tribune’s Chicagoan of the Year for Theatre 2003 recipient, will direct the production. Executive Artistic Director Kevin Asselin said the goal of the troupe is to bring live, professional performances of Shakespeare’s plays to middle and high schools across Montana and Wyoming, with emphasis on rural, underserved areas.The professional nine-member cast that makes up the touring company was chosen from national auditions.
The company rehearses for three weeks in Bozeman before presenting the play to 52 middle and high schools.
This year, the cast includes seven veteran Shakespeare in the Parks actors, including Riley O’Toole, Joe Faifer, Andrew Rathgeber, Jeff Meyer and Torey Byrne. Newcomers to the ensemble are Sam Douglas, Alexis Walker, Marlene Slaughter and Shaina Schrooten.
Public performances will be held at University of Montana Western Oct. 4 in Dillon; Tippet Rise Art Center Oct. 5 in Fishtail; and a special free performance at Belgrade High School on Nov. 23.
Tickets are $10 for the Tippet Rise performance.Shakespeare in the Schools’ 18th annual Elise Event, a fundraiser in honor of the late Elise Donohue, will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture in Bozeman. Tickets are $50 and the event will include a performance of “Romeo and Juliet.”Montana Shakespeare in the Schools is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts: Shakespeare in American Communities.
Additional support comes from the Montana Arts Council: Artists in Schools and Communities and Montana Cultural Trust; the Homer A. and Mildred S. Scott Foundation; the Sidney E. Frank Foundation; The Grainger Foundation; and individual donors.
For more information, visit shakespeareintheparks.org or call 406-994-3303.
Montana Shakespeare in the Schools 2019-20 Tour Schedule
Oct. 4 – University of Montana Western, Dillon – public performance
Oct. 5 – Tippet Rise Art Center, Fishtail – public performance
Oct. 7 – Wolf Point High School, Wolf Point
Oct. 8 – Scobey High School, Scobey
Oct. 9 – Plentywood High School, Plentywood
Oct. 10 – Medicine Lake High School, Medicine Lake
Oct. 11 – Bainville High School, Bainville
Oct. 14 – Roundup High School, Roundup
Oct. 15 – Reed Point/Rapelje/Ryegate High Schools, Reed Point
Oct. 16 – Billings West High School, Billings
Oct. 17 – Sheridan High School, Sheridan, Wyoming
Oct. 18 – Buffalo High School, Buffalo Wyoming
Oct. 21 – Worland High School, Worland, Wyoming
Oct. 22 – Powell High School, Powell, Wyoming
Oct. 23 – Meeteetse High School, Meeteetse, Wyoming
Oct. 24 – Cody High School, Cody, Wyoming
Oct. 25 – Greybull High School, Greybull, Wyoming
Oct. 28 – Sidney High School, Sidney
Oct. 29 – Pine Hills Youth Correctional Facility, Miles City
Oct. 30 – Hardin High School, Hardin
Oct. 31 – Columbus High School, Columbus
Nov. 1 – Anderson School, Bozeman
Nov. 2 – Elise Event, Emerson Cultural Center, Bozeman – public performance
Nov. 4 – Townsend Middle School, Townsend
Nov. 5 – Children’s Shakespeare Society, Bozeman
Nov. 6 – Capital High School, Helena
Nov. 7 – East Valley Middle School, East Helena
Nov. 8 – Helena High School, Helena
Nov. 11 – Power High School, Power
Nov. 12 – Simms High School, Simms
Nov. 13 – Highwood High School, Highwood
Nov. 14 – Belt High School, Belt
Nov. 15 – Box Elder High School, Box Elder
Nov. 18 – Polson High School, Polson
Nov. 19 – West Valley Middle School, Kalispell
Nov. 19 – Heritage Valley Learning Center, Kalispell
Nov. 20 – Kalispell Middle School, Kalispell
Nov. 21 – Ronan High School, Ronan
Nov. 22 – Plains High School, Plains
Nov. 23 – Belgrade High School Auditorium, Belgrade – public performance
Nov. 25 – Bozeman High School, Bozeman
Nov. 26 – Petra Academy, Bozeman
Nov. 27 – Shields Valley School, Clyde Park
Dec. 2 – Florence-Carlton High School, Florence
Dec. 3 – Sentinel High School, Missoula
Dec. 4 – Corvallis High School, Corvallis
Dec. 5 – Stevensville High School, Stevensville
Dec. 6 – Loyola High School, Missoula
Dec. 9 – Lone Peak High School, Big Sky
Dec. 10 – Ennis High School, Ennis
Dec. 11 – Sheridan High School, Sheridan
Dec. 12 – Chief Joseph Middle School, Bozeman
Dec. 13 – Manhattan High School, Manhattan
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