Montana Shakes! brings an interactive original play featuring scenes from Shakespeare to sixty elementary schools each spring. The play is accompanied by exciting theatrical workshops and introduces Shakespeare to young people in a way that is based on engagement and not apprehension.

SPRING 2020: The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The 2020 offering from MONTANA SHAKES! is a brand new K-6 friendly adaptation of The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Montana Shakes! is accompanied by three sets of three different theatrical workshops (nine in all) making for a fun-filled day for students K-5 that also meets many of Montana's Common Core Standards in English Language Arts and Literacy. The tour runs from February 10 to May 2, 2020. Call now to reserve a spot for your school or organization.

Workshops Offered

Montana Shakes offers three workshops that get students actively engaged in the accompanying production. 2020 Workshops are listed below:

Workshop Descriptions

What Happens Next? Creative Problem Solving
The end of the play is not the end of the story! In this workshop, students are invited to step into the world of the play and explore choices and consequences. Together, we will identify moments of conflict and choice in the story, explore different possibilities, and imagine what could happen next. What happens after Sylvia, Valentine, Julia, and Proteus leave the forest? Will Sylvia’s Dad accept Valentine? Should Julia forgive Proteus? By entering into the story with the actors, students are invited to engage with these problems and collaboratively find solutions.

Big Language for Big Emotions
In this play, characters express their feelings through songs, pictures, dance, and poetry! Shakespeare uses heightened language when characters are feeling heightened emotions. Aligned with Montana’s standards for English and Language Arts, this workshop introduces the idea of Big Language for Big Emotions through grade-level appropriate and embodied explorations of poetry, meter, sound, metaphor and simile. Students will work to understand, speak, and feel ownership of poetic language.

Character Creation
In Two Gents, Julia disguises herself in order to travel to a new city. Whether an actor taking on a character, or a character taking on a disguise, in this performance we see people taking on new identities. How does one pretend to be another person? This workshop will use the Actor’s Tools of body, voice, and imagination to create new characters. Students will be invited to explore how the ways we move and speak connect to how we think and feel.