An Endsummer Night’s Dream: an actor’s reflection on Montana Shakespeare in the Parks

The last actor went behind the curtain before the play started and a silence fell upon the audience. The intense anticipation was so thick, someone could cut it with a knife. “Who’s there?” someone exclaimed as the audience took a collective breath and a ghastly ghost strode across the stage. The crowds’ faces lit up as the poetic iambic pentameter washed over them and the play began.

Montana Shakespeare in the Parks (MSIP) started their performances this year by presenting “Hamlet” at the duck pond grove on campus, so it was only fitting they end their season here too. This final show at MSU’s Grant Chamberlain Park on Sept. 10 concluded the 52nd season of MSIP. The company performed “Hamlet” and “Winter’s Tale” during this year's season.

According to the MSIP website, its mission is to put on professional productions of Shakespeare that both enrich and engage rural and underserved communities through educational outreach. They do this in hopes of inspiring creative expression of the arts in young audiences. Justine Ryan, a first-year actor for MSIP and a graduate of Bennett College, shared her experience.

“It's actually my first time with the company, so I was able to audition in December last year,” Ryan said, who played Guildenstern in “Hamlet.” “Kevin [Asselin], who is the executive director of [MSIP], is an alum of my university and comes to auditions and so it was my second time auditioning for him and I got a callback and ended up getting a part, so it was great.”

“I kind of say it's the ultimate road trip. I get to see all of Montana and four other surrounding states and get to see a part of America a lot of Americans don't get to see and also bring art to them. And so it's been fun. It's not easy, but it's a great thing to do,” Ryan said.

Ryan said that MSIP relies on donations from community members while bringing free performances to numerous communities across Montana and Wyoming. MSIP’s commitment to keeping their shows free is intended to inspire new generations of Shakespeare enthusiasts. Ryan remembered the committed audience members who attended frequently. “It's not just the loyalty, but the commitment to support,” Ryan said.

“I would say I am not a Shakespeare girly. I'm not a huge Shakespeare person, so I was really scared coming out here to do this, but here I am. It was such an eye-opener of not conquering the language, but getting over the barrier. I'm also dyslexic, so there's also that as well, but learning that and then grabbing ahold of it, and then now I'm able to formulate it into how I say it,” Ryan said.

The Elizabethan English Shakespeare used in his plays — most known for the “thee” and “thou” — has confused modern audiences and children for a long while. Ryan discussed her struggles with the language of Shakespeare and how learning the form was a big milestone for her. Ryan explained that MSIP has allowed Shakespeare to become more accessible to people.

“I'm just super excited for the little kids, and everybody was like, I'm not a Shakespeare person but I will come to support this because this is the one time I get to love Shakespeare or understand it fully without any judgments put on me,” Ryan said. “Also, Shakespeare becomes attainable, which sometimes, even in the classroom, it's not always attainable to all.”

Ryan said her experience with MSIP has allowed her to grow as a person and actor. “I think that's the greatest gift and privilege to do this work, but there's so many things that we get in return,” she said. “Being able to do the work and making discoveries, but also bringing it to people. It's a full circle moment from the first time we sit down and do a cast reading and start to work on the text to our last show and so even seeing that people have seen the show maybe multiple times throughout this season, they still want to see it again and they see something different every time.”

This winter, MSIP will begin its 32nd Montana Shakespeare in the Schools. There, MSIP travels to schools across the state with performing a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Shakespeare.

The schedule hasn’t been published, but check out shakespeareintheparks.org for coming updates on the next season.