Shakespeare returns to county

After last year's cancellation due to COVID-19, Montana Shakespeare in the Park (MSIP) returned for its 2021 season. This year's summer productions were, "A Midsummer's Night Dream" shown at Trout Creek Park, sponsored by Trout Creek Community Improvement Association (TCCIA) and "Cymbeline," shown at the fairgrounds in Plains, sponsored by Plains Woman's Club.

MSIP has been touring for 49 years, traveling nearly 7,000 miles through Montana and neighboring states. After a year of uncertainty, the theater has felt a significant amount of gratitude for the communities they serve and the people they perform for.

"In my eyes, we are truly owned by our communities, in the best possible way," said Kevin Asselin, MSIP Executive Artistic Director. "In the last 49 years they have made all this possible and they have continued to carry us through the pandemic."

From an artistic perspective, the pandemic brought several tests the theater had to face. "It was a challenge to regroup and get back on the saddle of directing and producing," Asselin said. "We kept asking ourselves, 'How do we do this again?' Once we were into the swing of it, it just felt like an extreme state of flow, a positive creative flow, and it was really rewarding how we were able to come together as a group and find relevance in these plays and build them specifically for the population that we serve."

Each play, lasting two hours, was free admission thanks to TCCIA and Plains Woman's Club. "Everyone I talked with was so excited to hear that Shakespeare was coming back this year," said Liz Stender with TCCIA. "The TCCIA sponsored the event for $1,375 to bring it in, but it's free to the public every year. We also cater lunch and dinner for the actors. This year we asked Stef Martin at the Wayside to cater the event."

MSIP worked closely with Bozeman Health, Gallatin Valley Health Commission and Montana State University to draft a comprehensive COVID plan to keep actors and audience members as safe as possible. "We had artists coming from all over the country, so we were mindful of where everyone was coming from and the respective state of the pandemic in each of those communities," Asselin said.

"Cymbeline" was the bard's final play and is also part of an international project called "Cymbeline in the Anthropocene." Asselin says his company was one of eight around the country to be chosen to participate in the project to explore the Anthropocene – a term used to describe a time during which humans have substantial impact or influence on the climate and environment.

"We needed to find direct relevance within the play to be reflective upon climate change and ecological concerns," Asselin said. He worked to revise the script without losing Shakespeare's language while still living up to the concept.

"It's been really cool actually," he said. "We did a lot of cross gender work in the play to reflect that. The scenic elements, costuming and sound design helped live up that concept and were super proud to be a part of this project." Because of the comedy of "Midsummer's Night Dream," Asselin thought it would be a good pairing to go alongside "Cymbeline," which can be seen as a comedy, but is also seen as tragedy.

Touring 61 communities and bringing the Bard to remote areas of the state has always been the objective of MSIP. "The mission has always been to bring live, free and professional theater to our underserved rural communities," Asselin said. "We use the term underserviced because there's limited access to cultural events and performances in the areas we tour."

Asselin has followed in his predecessor's footsteps and continues to bring Shakespeare to the communities who he believes have a deep respect for literature and community connection. Regardless of conversations about masks, politics or the state of the union, Asselin believes Shakespeare has the ability to bring everyone together no matter what their affiliation is and says Shakespeare is nonpartisan.

"We are solely supported by our community and the individuals who come to see our shows," Asselin said. "The fact that this has been happening for 49 years is a testament to the strength of the communities that we serve and their passion for bringing friends, family and loved ones to experience this cultural event."

Both plays attracted more than 50 audience members to watch the live theatrical performances of "A Midsummer's Night Dream" and "Cymbeline." Love, betrayal, confusion, magic and a beheading left community members happily standing and applauding at the end.