HELENA — The 52nd annual Montana Shakespeare in the Parks is back in Helena this Monday and Tuesday evenings at Anchor Park from 6-8 PM for their free theatre performances.
The touring band of actors brings Shakespeare to not only Montana but Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, and North Dakota. The group travels throughout the summer months performing Hamlet and The Winter’s Tale.
It takes a village to make it all happen. In every new town, they must set up and tear down their full stage. One of the actors, Mikey Gray, says that having the opportunity to bring theater to rural and remote towns is a cornerstone of Montana Shakespeare in the Parks.
“It is essential to the mission of Montana Shakespeare in the Parks to go to those smaller communities around the five-state region. One, as an example, is Birney, Montana. Population is about 10 and we get about 125 people almost every year that come out to this butte, this gorgeous Poker Jim Butte. So, it's that gorgeous thing where even though there's only 10 people in a certain community, people from all around that area, in smaller communities that are sort of dispersed around that town, let's say, will all join together and sort of make it a big festival, sort of community event,” says Gray.
