Shakespeare comes to county

Nearly 200 people went to the Sanders County Fairgrounds to witness infidelity, jealousy, revenge, attempted murder and humorous conniving. People from Heron to Missoula gathered on the fairgrounds lawn last Thursday evening to watch "The Merry Wives of Windsor" put on by the cast of Shakespeare in the Parks.

The two-hour play was free admission, thanks to Plains Woman's Club, which paid $2,000 to get the Montana State University troupe to Plains, but they had help from sponsors McGowan's Grocery, NAPA Auto Parts, First Security Bank, Thompson Falls Woman's Club and Blackfoot. In addition, Quinn's Hot Springs Resort and Glacier Crossroads provided free lodging to the 11 actors.

A performance also was held at the Trout Creek Park on Friday evening, with the Trout Creek Community Improvement Association helping to bring the group to Sanders County.

"They are fabulous actors and it's a state treasure because it's an expensive program, but it's free to the public," said Debbie Lyman of Heron, who also said she's seen every Shakespeare in the Parks performance since 1989. "This is a premier outreach program. It's the only one in the country that comes to your park and you don't have to go to their venue," she added.

This is the 47th year for the MSU program. They perform in Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington, traveling to 61 communities from June 24 to Sept. 3, according to Miles Duffey, who's been with the program for 10 years.

"We love doing this. It's a community outreach program and people really appreciate it. And it brings a lot of people to see a Shakespeare play," said Duffey, who played the part of Master Frank Ford, who poses as Master Broom and pays Sir John Falstaff, played by Steve Peebles, to seduce his wife to test her fidelity. But Ford wants to catch them in the act, something that doesn't come easy.

Another's wife also gets involved and teams up with Mistress Ford to fool Falstaff and her husband. Falstaff is made a fool throughout the play. He must hide in a smelly laundry basket, gets tossed into the river, has to dress up like an old woman, and as a woman gets beat up by Ford, who didn't even know it was Falstaff. He didn't realize Broom is Ford until the end when Ford attempts to shoot him. Like other Shakespeare plays, there are other smaller plots, such as two lovers wanting to marry and three men wanting to kill each other. 

The MSU actors have done The Merry Wives of Windsor play 16 times this season. It takes the actors around two hours to set up the 18-foot wide, two-story portable stage, which they also use as a barrier to change costumes several times during the show.

The Plains Woman's Club has been sponsoring Shakespeare in the Parks since the 1970s. Debbi Kirschbaum, the club's acting president, said it was a great performance and this was one of the largest crowds in her 20 years with the club. The club dedicates the summer play each year to the late Louise Lulack, a longstanding member of the club who coordinated the event for the community for numerous years.