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Our 32nd Season!

For its 32nd season, Shakespeare in the Schools presents A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Kerry Bishé, to middle and high school students as it was meant to be staged – in an engaging live performance.

Accompanied by a lively post-show talk back with relevant, active workshops, this educational program reaches over 50 schools in Montana and Wyoming each fall. 

The Fall 2024 schedule is booked! Read on to learn how to bring Shakespeare in the Schools to your school in 2024.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

For its 32nd season, Montana Shakespeare in the Schools presents : A Midsummer Night's Dream. Directed by Kerry Bishé, this program is created to enthrall middle school & high school kids,  this production will be offered to students in the way it was meant to be presented – in an engaging live performance.

If there is a school in your community that you feel would benefit from our Shakespeare in the Schools program, please contact:

Hannah Jacobsma, Director of Access & Engagement hannah.jacobsma@montana.edu for more information.

From the Director, Kerry Bishé

My very first acting job was with MSIP 20 years ago, so directing here feels very much like coming home. MSIP helped me launch confidently into my acting career and I am so thrilled to bring my experience to the other side of the table as a director this fall. One of the things I relate to most about A Midsummer Night's Dream is that the characters journey to the woods and are transformed by what they experience there. Montana is a special place where, it feels, the woods have magic, the same way they do in Shakespeare's play.

With this production, we explore, among other things, the unique, intertwined history of Shakespeare in Montana. The Mechanicals and their theatre troupe are like rodeo clowns. Theseus, Duke of Athens is like Wyatt Earp, the lawman in charge. And his fiancée, the fierce Amazonian princess Hippolyta, is like Annie Oakley. The metaphor threads its way through the whole production, connecting the costumes, and props, the songs and the sets with the acting style and brings the message of the play very close to home. I hope the students who get to experience this production feel connected to the past, both Shakespeare's and Montana's. I hope they discover that they actually understand what often feels like a foreign language. I hope they laugh at the hilarious jokes and empathize with the plight of young, unrequited love. Above all, I hope we can make a play that was first performed over 400 years ago feel relevant to our experience today.

Shakespeare in American Communities is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

This project is funded in part by the Montana Arts Council, an agency of the State Government, and by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Actors

Screenshot 2024 08 26 at 10 59 54 AM

Kerry Bishé, Director

Abigail Nakken

Abigail Nakken, Helena / Cobweb

Avery Johnson 2023

Avery Johnson, Lysander / Flute

Calvin Adams NEW 2024

Calvin Adams, Bottom / Egeus

Isa Guitian

Isa Guitian, Puck / Philostrate

Lucas Prizant

Lucas Prizant, Demetrius / Starveling

Marcus Cunningham

Marcus Cunningham, Oberon / Theseus

Rachel Jones

Rachel Jones, Hermia / Peter Quince

Samantha Potrykus Headshot

Samantha Potrykus, Titania / Hippolyta

Past Performances

1993 – Shakespearean Scenes
1994 – Shakespeare’s Supernatural
1995 – Shakespeare’s Supernatural & Shakespeare in Disguise
1996 – Coming of Age
1997 – No Tour
1998 – Macbeth (spring and fall tours)
1999 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
2000 – Romeo & Juliet
2001 – As You Like It
2002 – Julius Caesar
2003 – Twelfth Night
2004 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
2005 – Merchant of Venice
2006 – Comedy of Errors

2007 – Othello
2008 – Much Ado About Nothing
2009 – Romeo & Juliet
2010 – Twelfth Night
2011 – As You Like It
2012 – Macbeth
2013 – Two Gentlemen of Verona
2014 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
2015 – Merchant of Venice
2016 – Hamlet
2017 – Twelfth Night
2018 – Julius Caesar
2019 – Romeo & Juliet
2021 – Much Ado About Nothing
2022 – Macbeth

2023- As You Like It

2024 - A Midsummer Night's Dream

Season Sponsors:

Questions?

(406) 994-3310