Clarion Montana Shakespeare in the Parks
Spring/Summer 2011
Introducing the Summer 2011 Season! william shakespeare’s
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For more information, go to:
www.shakespeareintheparks.org
11 t
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Merchant much ado Venice about nothing
The
of
“She speaks poniards, and every word stabs.”
“I like not fair terms, and a villain’s mind.” Act I, Scene 3
“In our last conflict, four of his five wits went halting off.”
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Interview with the Directors Supported in part by a grant from the Montana Arts Council, an agency of the state government and the National Endowment for the Arts
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Locatiion
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Will Dickerson The Merchant of Venice
Tell me what made you choose The Merchant of Venice to direct this season?
I start out by thinking about our audience. As I comb through the plays, I’m usually asking myself things like, “When was the last time, if ever, that they’ve seen this particular show? Does this pair well with the other play? Will people be compelled to watch this story? A funny thing happened with Merchant; I remembered that the last time the company had presented the play was in 2005 for Montana Shakespeare in the Schools. It was extremely well received by high school students all over Montana and Wyoming. That’s right, and it was such a relief because it was the first time we tried a “serious” play on high school and middle school students.
Exactly, and the thing that hit me, was that all of those high school kids aren’t kids anymore. They are now the youngest members
of our adult audience and we’re talking about thousands of Montana audience members who have a connection to this story. Of course, whether or not a show is a good fit for our audiences isn’t the only consideration. As an artist, I’m looking for a story that is accessible to me. In other words, am I attracted to the lives of the characters? Do the themes of the play challenge my preconceptions? It turns out that for this play, right now the answer to all of those questions is “yes.” Why is it accessible to you? What do you consider the heart of the story?
A pound of flesh — I’m kidding. What if I told you that the world of this play is full of people who are living well beyond their means? A place where people make lifechanging decisions based on speculation, greed, and resentment? Where young people live extravagantly on their parents’ dime and view every aspect of life as a kind of game? Sound familiar? Add to that the story of a religious extremist who feels marginalized, persecuted and finally driven to madness and revenge... It’s a place that I think audiences will recognize. There is also a sad and desperate kind of love that connects Bassanio to Portia, Antonio to Bassanio, and Shylock to Jessica and his way of life. Wow, I hadn’t looked at it that way. What are your feelings about the anti-Semitism material in this play?
I wish it were more shocking. I wish it didn’t continued on page 2
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As with many of Shakespeare’s comedies, there are several stories going on in this play? Where will your emphasis be?
Joel Jahnke Much Ado About Nothing
What do you like about Much Ado? What attracted you to this play?
Well, where do I begin on answering this one? First of all, I would say that Beatrice and Benedick have always been two of my favorite Shakespearean characters. They are seemingly so self-reliant and confident and yet both end up revealing this extraordinary vulnerability. Their ‘merry war’ is some of the most fun stuff in all of Shakespeare for me. On the other side of the coin, (the clownish side) Dogberry and Verges are two equally wonderful characters, really Shakespeare at his comic best. I think those scenes would make a cat laugh. It’s hard to lose with that many great characters peopling the play. Finally, I love how it takes us teeteringly close to the edge of tragedy and then backs off leaving us with a play that is a play about ‘nothing’ really. It reminds me of Seinfeld in that way. Both offer great comedy, great characters and very little to take too seriously.
Yes, you are right, really all his plays are like that — but especially the comedies. I think that the job of the director is to find the blend and flavor of each one, see how they intertwine and then tell the story in an interesting way. In this play, I find it interesting that all three subplots never quite converge until the very end when all the potential for danger is past, making it truly, much ado about nothing. I am very interested in your ”take” on the women in this play?
Well, of course, Beatrice is the first that comes to mind since she is one of Shakespeare’s great confident women, so very sure of herself, so full of life and energy. I find it interesting though that we see, as I said, her extraordinary vulnerability in this play. It’s why we remember her, she’s so human. Hero, on the other hand, seems more simply defined. One modern edition calls her ‘lovely, gentle and innocent’. While she is all those things, I hope to mine some gold from within the script with that character. I just don’t buy that she can be treated that badly by Claudio and then instantly forgive him without a word. What do you mean?
I just think there is something more interesting there than what appears on the page…which is nothing. Well, at least
Montana Shakespeare in the Parks is a theatrical outreach program of Montana State University-Bozeman. The Company’s mission is to bring quality, live theatre productions of Shakespeare and other classics to as many communities in Montana and vicinity as possible with an emphasis on small, under-served rural areas. All performances are free and open to the public. The Clarion is published annually. MSIP - P.O. Box 174120, Bozeman, MT 59717
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The Merchant of Venice continued from page 1
look so familiar and remind me of the kind of persecution and verbal violence that play across the television screen every night. I wish it had been burned up in the crucible of The Holocaust or withered by the dissemination of reason. It makes me uncomfortable, and it will be a challenge for the actors to internalize and own. I feel a responsibility to present it nakedly and without apology so that our audience can make their own decisions about how it makes them feel. I am sure that the actors and designers will help me influence those decisions in a way that reflects our collective rejection of all prejudice and persecution.
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evangelism, doomed to failure. Now, for Shylock, and shockingly, Gratiano, it is an exquisitely cruel kind of punishment. Let’s talk about Shylock, one of Shakespeare’s most controversial characters. What are your thoughts about him?
I think he is incredibly smart, deeply hurt, and painfully funny. When Shakespeare created the character there was not a Jewish presence in Elizabethan England. There were people of
I feel a responsibility to present (the play) without apology so that our audience can make their own decisions about how it makes them feel.
Merchant is often referred to as a problem play. What do you see as the challenges in the play?
Well, people are afraid to take the author’s word for it and let it be a comedy. It was an immensely popular play in its day. Shylock is a very dynamic villain, and he has sort of taken over recent productions in a way that undercuts the play’s fifth act. I have some ideas on how to reconcile this and revive what I imagine to be the play’s intended shape. These people in this play are ridiculous; they make insane choices that would fit right in with any episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Office. I just have to say that any play I’ve ever worked on, as an actor, verse coach, or director, has seemed like a problem play at some time in the process. Isn’t problematic just another word for challenging? And isn’t art challenging at it’s very best?
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Jewish descent but they were, at least publicly, converts and would have been outwardly completely secular in dress and custom. Shylock is most closely related to Caliban from The Tempest. The “savage” and the “jew” were treated as monsters in most of the literature of the time, closely related to witches, goblins, and mermaids. Shakespeare starts with the monstrosity, in both cases, and then injects it with humanity. I think he turns the monster inside out, revealing the devastating humanity of the creation. If Caliban represents carnal appetite, ignorance, ingratitude, and ambition Shakespeare seems to be saying, “What’s more human than that?” If Shylock represents greed, ruthlessness, petty resentment, and misanthropy, Shakespeare writes a very famous speech asking, basically, how is this “Jew” any different from all of humanity? I’d say he is a remarkably drawn example of one of Shakespeare’s human monsters.
What is the time period you plan to set Merchant in? Why?
Venice in the 1950s, with the French Riviera standing in for Belmont. I wanted to try to avoid the pre-WW II foreshadowing that has become fashionable in modern productions. Our Shylock is post-war, a survivor more than a victim, in a VERY strange place. The extravagant fashion of the time has a nice connection to the kind of excess I’m looking to evoke. And like any era, it provides the opportunity for a unique soundscape. How do you see Portia and her handling of the “pound of flesh” issue in the play? Doesn’t she ask Shylock to show mercy and then show none to him just moments later?
She’s extremely smart and sexy, let’s just get that out of the way. Within that scene, however, she takes on the cold unforgiving mantle of the law. Shylock’s over-reaching, his unnatural demands for a pound of flesh as payment, and his rejection of all reasonable payment seals his fate by law. The real problem is the sentence of conversion to Christianity. And this is where a lot of modern audiences say they disconnect from the play. I’m willing to bet that there is a remarkably large percentage of people who would call this conversion by another name...salvation. That is what Portia believes, in her terribly young and naïve way. It is a clumsy kind of
this makes them more understandable or less?
Much Ado About Nothing continued from page 1
You can change the settings so easily because Shakespeare was a brilliant playwright who was writing for all humanity, not just his own time. These themes and characters are timeless. Whether it makes them more understandable or less I think is debatable but it does allow a director some leeway into presenting a world that can be specifically colored and fashioned to make the production more interesting. I think it helps enlighten the original work in ways that Shakespeare would never have dreamed of. He obviously never knew the world of the antebellum South but his characters, beautifully conceived and masterfully written, will come alive in that world nonetheless in a way that will be quite different from a production set in Sicily in 1598. I would venture to say that most of our audience will be much more familiar with my choice as they see the play through a lens that I have crafted.
Shakespeare doesn’t give you any. She says “I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it” and faints. So I think then that revealing moment at the end may be richer than we think. That’s something we will be playing with in rehearsals, finding moments that are between the lines so a subtext can come alive and breathe some additional air into that character. The other woman in our production is Margaret. She has her own spunk and since she gets caught up unwittingly in the entanglement of the plot that nearly destroys everything, she’s an interesting victim as well. Tell me about the time and place for your Much Ado?
Originally, it was set in Messina on the island of Sicily, but as I was studying the play, there was something about that wonderfully acidic dialogue between Beatrice and Benedick that began to speak to me in a Southern accent.
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Can’t you just hear a Southern gentleman saying, “What, mah deah Lady Disdain, ah you yet livin’?
Can you give me an example?
Can’t you just hear a well-dressed Southern gentleman saying, “What, mah deah Lady Disdain, ah you yet livin’?” The manner in which you can say something that is really quite vile and still sound civil was very appealing to me. I also needed to have these young men coming back from a battle and a war that was not yet fully flowered and the early civil war years in Charleston began to appeal to me. I watched Gone with the Wind and the idea cemented itself. In fact, I found some interesting parallels that had not occurred to me between Beatrice and Scarlet O’Hara, Rhett Butler and Benedick, Melanie Wilkes and Hero, and others. Plus, the sets and costumes are to die for.
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Merchant deals with themes like greed and cruelty to humanity? Will there be any comedy?
In my experience, we laugh when we are surprised, embarrassed, and maybe a little frightened. It is thrilling to recognize a truth that we’re afraid to tell, broadcast in the open air, to a few hundred members of our community. I’m also pretty sure that greed, cruelty, deceit, confusion and pride have been a part of comedy for as long as people have been laughing. So, yes, I imagine in wrestling with this play we’re going to find a lot that is very, very funny. Just don’t be surprised if somebody gets hurt, that’s bound to happen when you play rough.
Visit www.shakespeareintheparks.org 2010 MSIP Advisory Board
Staff
Rob Freistadt, MSIP Board President, teacher, business owner, Helena Debbie and Dave Lyman, Community volunteers, Heron Jean Dahlman, Director, Literacy Council, rancher, Forsyth Dick Kuntz, Retired Assistant Superintendent of Public Schools 6-12, Great Falls Chuck Tooley, Former mayor, business owner, Billings Chuck Jensen, VP, Administration and Finance, Flathead Valley Community College, Kalispell Elise Donohue, Rancher, Clyde Park Alex Heyneman, Rancher, Absarokee Art Wittich, attorney, Senator, Bozeman Contessa Birky, Store Team Leader,Target, Bozeman Christian Piper, Store Team Leader, Target, Helena Dave Haas, MSU Alumnus, Powell, WY Carl Lehrkind, Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Bozeman
Joel Jahnke, Artistic Director William Brown, Associate Artistic Director Kathy Jahnke, Director of Community Relations Lila Michael, Office Manager Micki Hobson, Consultant Diane Eagleson, Business Manager Robert Rath, Graphic Design J-Tech Communications, Website Design
For more information: Montana Shakespeare in the Parks PO Box 174120 Bozeman MT 59717-4120 www.shakespeareintheparks.org
Do you think you are a romantic at heart? Do you believe in love at first sight?
Anyone who knows me well will laugh out loud at this question and my answer better deliver. Me? A romantic? I cry at television commercials, Christmas is my favorite holiday, I buy my wife the mushiest anniversary card I can lay my hands on, standing ovations make my knees weak...Yeah, I guess you could say that I’m a romantic. Love at first sight? Not only do I believe in it, I have lived it. Twenty four years ago and still as much in love as that very first moment. Is this play really Much Ado About Nothing?
Yes I think it is. And that’s the wonderful thing about it. While it takes you on a wonderful ride with some scary curves and a couple dark tunnels to make it interesting, I don’t think we ever have to worry that we will be safely dropped off at the end. We may hurt a little from laughing too much but the master playwright has once again brought us safely home.
Why do you feel that you can change the setting so readily with Shakespeare plays? Do you think
This concept photo from designer Denise Massman evokes the excess of the late 50’s which will be the setting for MSIP’s 2011 The Merchant of Venice.
Much Ado is a romantic comedy.
From the Artistic Director
T
“
he last year has been one of the busiest, most productive, and most exciting in my thirty-some years at the helm of this wonderful company. It has been filled with change and opportunity, and we are on the verge of reshaping ourselves into a much more efficient and effective, lean mean machine. And it won’t be too long before you will begin to notice the difference. First of all, as you may or may not know, Shakespeare in the Parks is now either in production or touring for ten months out of the year and yet, because of my teaching responsibilities, the artistic director is still a part-time position. While we have managed that way for a long time, it has been clear for some time now that we were nearing a point where that will no longer be possible. With the help of a recent grant and a private donation, we have been able to establish a sustainability fund that has allowed us to begin to make strides toward making the artistic director position full-time year round. Thanks to Bob Arnold and the School of Film and Photography at MSU, for the last eight months, I have been able to secure some released time from my teaching to focus more fully on Shakespeare in the Parks, and also begin work with our wonderful consultant, Micki Hobson (who has worked with us on various planning projects for the last several years), on a reorganization and strategic plan that will prepare us for a very promising and stable future. Our reorganization will be three fold: first, for the first time in our 39-year history, we will convert the artistic director position to full-time year-round permanently. Secondly, we are hiring a Director of Educational Programs who will be responsible for growing and funding our two educational programs; Shakespeare in the Schools and MONTANA SHAKES! Finally, Kathy, our Director of Community Relations, will continue to manage the summer tour, expanding her wonderful work with our local tour coordinators and will add fundraising for the summer tour to her duties. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this new direction. It represents a long overdue elevation of the
The last year has been filled with change and opportunity, and we are on the verge of reshaping ourselves into a much more efficient and effective machine.
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significance of our educational programs, and also will allow us to do more with the summer. It connects our fundraising efforts directly to our programming, and will allow us to focus our efforts where our strength lies — at the grass roots level. In the very near future we will be launching a new campaign called the Artistic Director’s Circle, which will be asking for a long-term commitment to Shakespeare in the Parks as your on-going cultural treasure. I hope that you will continue to support us as you always have and will consider joining with me in providing for a bright and secure future as well. Finally, this past year has allowed me to be more actively involved in our two educational programs and I was able to direct Twelfth Night in the fall and All the West’s a Stage; A Fool’s Gold for our elementary school tour this spring. Let me just say that I could not be more proud of these two programs and I wish you all could have been there with me to see the magic happen. Many thanks to Will and Susan, Bill Brown, Mark, and all the wonderful actors who have worked so hard to make these so special, enriching and unique. The bar has been raised! Enjoy the summer!
Joel Jahnke Artistic Director
Clarion
Mark Kuntz
Samuel Ashdown
Michael Gonring
Kalen Harriman
Daniel Haley
Eliza Stoughton
2011 Acting Company Fred Geyer
Sara Mountjoy-Pepka
Michael Perez
Miles Duffey
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Montana Shakespeare in the Schools: Fall 2011
Journal Entries From The Company Manager
As You Like It
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ssociate Artistic Director William Brown will return to direct the 19th season of Montana Shakespeare in the Schools (SIS) with Shakespeare’s As You Like It which will perform for nearly 50 middle and high schools across Montana and Wyoming this fall. SIS was fortunate enough to have Mr. Brown travel from his home base in Chicago where he is in constant demand as a director and actor to direct the 2009 production of Shakespeare’s timeless Romeo and Juliet. Back again this fall, Brown plans to build on the “status and bullying” themes that appeared in Twelfth Night last fall by highlighting the status of the characters in As You Like It, who disguise themselves for their own safety. “I hope it will be timely for students who are in the midst of deciding who and what they are.” The cast will consist of an 8 member professional company comprised of half veteran actors and half new company members. The company travels throughout Montana and Wyoming to most major communities but with an emphasis on small rural schools that would not otherwise have the opportunity to work with professional actors in their own schools. As a teacher from Ennis, MT, put it, “The presentation was outstanding. The workshops were well constructed and masterfully taught… brilliant personnel.” In less than a decade, this nationally recognized tour has grown from a two-actor
presentation of scenes with limited costumes and a simple painted banner to an eightmember professional company performing an 80-minute production of one of Shakespeare‘s plays complete with full-scale costumes and sets. All performances also include a Q&A session between actors and students, and a full complement of four workshops tied specifically to the play’s theme. The workshops will once again be created by educational consultant, Bobbi McKean from the University of Arizona, who will work within the overall subject areas of Improvisation, Verse, Stage Combat and Relevance. To remain affordable and accessible to all schools, SIS only charges the schools approximately 25% of the program’s actual cost and obtains alternative funding from grants, sponsorships, private donations and an annual fundraising event in early November. Grants that have made this season possible include Montana Arts Council’s Artist in the Schools program and the Yellowstone Club Community Foundation.
Booking begins May 1 SIS booking begins in early spring before the end of the school year. If you are interested in bringing the program to your school, we encourage you to reserve a spot even if you can’t commit to an exact date. Call Kathy Jahnke at (406) 994-1220, or email her at kjahnke@montana.edu.
joying the Students en oduction pr S SI 2010 ght. Ni of Twelfth
This fall, Mark Kuntz, our amazing company manager, decided to keep a “journal” of sorts to chronicle the experiences the company members were having each day along the road. It turned out to be a very special gift making the tour come alive for those of us that would never get the chance to see every school every day. Here are some of our favorite excerpts: > They are REALLY picking up on the thematic implications in the play: at the end of the play when Malvolio vows his revenge and storms off downstage right, an anonymous student from the crowd yelled, “You can come with me, buddy!” Quite touching. > The Verse workshop is taking shape, as is the Status workshop, and when we have kids as sharp as these, both of these workshops truly soar. I am hearing lots of feedback that we have “really stepped up” the workshops this year. > By far the most responsive audience I’ve ever played on a school tour (even more responsive than your above-average summer crowds), they were laughing and listening to things my admittedly-cynical mind never thought any high-school kids would grasp, and they gave us our first standing ovation on tour so far. > I love coming here. The kids are always polite, smart, active, hard-working, and respectful. Oh yeah, and fun. The teachers are great too! > What a fantastic little school this turned out to be, this entire day was awesome. A small but true performance followed by as engaging and personal a round of workshops as we’ve had yet. Whenever we leave a school, and the students want a group photo, and then wave at you out the window as you drive off, is a good day indeed. > You can always tell when you’re at a school that truly nurtures the arts; the principal even got up and gave our summer tour a huge plug, and expressed great interest in another visit from MT SHAKES! > The students were highly interactive during the workshops, but more to the point, the performance itself, which elicited more audience interaction here than anywhere else. During the talkback, the entire student body AND faculty rose to their feet and engaged in some collective “Fencing Dancing”. You should have seen that sight! > I can’t impress enough how fun these kids were. The workshops were limited to juniors and seniors, and I’m telling you, they had the feel of college students. Great fun was had teaching stage combat and Mike and I allowed the entire junior class to pummel us relentlessly with pool noodles. Ah, learning. It used to be sooo boring. > A lovely little town, two great schools (the senior and the elementary) across the street from each other and a remarkably helpful and creative faculty. All these factors made for a perfect start to the last week of tour.
Curtain Call at Anderson School on the first day of tour.
The Elise Event
A
t the 9th annual fundraiser held last fall in the Black Box Theater on the MSU campus, Elise Donohue, the patron saint of The Elise Event, once again carried her heartfelt message to a sold out audience about how crucial early exposure to Shakespeare’s works is to students in Montana and Wyoming; and how vital it is to support those programs that bring his words to life in a live experience- as Shakespeare intended. And once again, the response from the audience in their support was more than expected with many audience members commenting that this was the best production to date! The Black Box was a close-up view of the classic comedy Twelfth Night and the eight member professional company did not disappoint; creating a wonderful evening of hilarity as well as unexpectedly touching moments. The production was enhanced by a post-show talkback session with the actors, artistic director and designers, who answered questions about their experiences with students on the road, including some very poignant stories regarding the “status and bullying” workshops they conducted in the
schools. Following the talk-back, actors and audience mingled onstage casually getting to know each other. The Elise Event is the only public showcase and benefit for the Shakespeare in the Schools program and is made possible every fall by the generous patronage of Elise Donohue. Elise’s support and commitment to this program as well as her willingness to assist in raising funds each fall by sponsoring this highly anticipated and truly unique event has become an important part of our outreach mission.
Shannon Hollander in SIS’ Twelfth Night at The Black Box Theater.
Elise Event 2011 This year, The Elise Event will feature the Shakespeare in the Schools’ production of another of Shakespeare’s classic comedies As You Like It. Following the 80minute performance, the actors, director and designers will once again answer questions from the audience and then everyone will come together on stage for a catered party featuring both kid-
Michael Gonring at The Elise Event in the SIS’s Twelfth Night.
friendly treats and adult beverages and appetizers. The 2011 Elise Event is tentatively scheduled for Friday, November 4, 2011. Please make plans to join us in support of this important educational outreach program. As always, it promises to be a very special evening! Seating is limited. For information, call 994-3310 or visit our website:www. shakespeareintheparks.org
Clarion
FOR ONE PERFORMANCE! MONTANA SHAKES presents The GREATEST ACTORS with the finest THEATRICAL PEDIGREES
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What They’re Saying About MONTANA SHAKES! The actors enthusiastically kept the young students on task and moved at a perky pace. The energy level of the actors was outstanding! The students were engaged and motivated to learn.
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Excellent pacing and audience participation. The age-appropriate nature of the workshop-really hit the target. I liked the wonderful energy of the performances and their ability to perform so many different roles.
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You got rave reviews from kindergarten to fifth grade teachers for the performances and also for the workshops. The actors called on as many students as possible and were very respectful, humorous and informative. It gave the students a chance to see a play that they may not normally get to see. The children loved the comedy part, but were also very engaged in the suspense of the story and design. The quality of the acting was impressive, we thoroughly enjoyed it and the energy of the school was wonderful! The presenters were so animated and vocal, the kids really responded to them. The next time my students hear of William Shakespeare they will have some background knowledge. Great actors, fun for all.
pring 2011 marks our third MONTANA play with designer sock puppets where the SHAKES! tour and the company is now student groups create the puppet’s character travelling to elementary schools in Montana and write the play they perform at the end and Wyoming performing a newly written of the class). All throughout the tour, many I heard one boy in my class say, “I’m going to remember this until I’m production All The West’s A Stage: A Fools of the schools also invite the actors to have 97 years old.� Gold with a whole new package of workshops lunch with the kids and that has turned into to go with the residency. The premise of the a wonderful time for the actors and students The acting kept the students and adults enthralled, I laughed until I company is that they are a comical traveling to get to know each other in a more informal troupe of actors coming to you straight from setting. The day long residency is presented cried! I was thrilled to see my students so excited about Shakespeare. the stages of the Old West to perform their by a company of actors who are also an mostMONTANA famous scenes from Shakespeare’s— experienced teamSHOULD of educators. YOU! SHAKES AND SO plays. This unique program was specifically According to Artistic Director Joel Jahnke, designed to expose the youngest students to the program is designed to prepare the their first “taste� of Shakespeare in a fun, non- audiences of the future. “We felt that a threatening environment. program designed specifically for the needs The company is performing in 40 of this age group might provide a welcome elementary schools from Rocky Boy to and innovative introduction to Shakespeare Ennis and from Noxon to Sidney with many at a time when students are most receptive new schools being added to last year’s tour to learning. The hope of the MONTANA schedule. MONTANA SHAKES! is once again SHAKES! program is that if a student’s first fortunate enough to play multiple days in time exposure to Shakespeare is a positive Laurel, Bozeman and Livingston. one, it will open the door for a life- long The company is comprised of a three appreciation of Shakespeare and other great member cast of professional actors including literature.� Marianna De Fazio, Michael Gonring, back The 2012 spring tour has already begun again for his second season and Mark Kuntz booking. who is also the company manager for the To reserve a place for your school or library, The 2011 MONTAN A SHAKES! first tour. SHAKES! was directed by artistic director contact Kathy Jahnke today at 406-994-1220 or performance of th at Hawthorne Ele e tour mentary in Boze man, MT. Joel Jahnke and the new script, music for the kjahnke@montana.edu. play, and workshops were written by Will and Susan Dickerson. Stacey Hostetter was able to offer her amazing craftsperson abilities in creating the puppets and puppet theater used in the design workshop. The tour began on March 21 and will continue through May 13. Building on two successful tours, the presentation for K – 6th graders begins with a 35-40 minute interactive play featuring scenes from some of Shakespeare’s most famous and well-loved comedies that have been rewritten to include active student audience participation. The actors then invite students to ask questions during a 15-20 minute talk back session immediately following the performance before breaking into small workshop groups for workshops in the areas of Stage Combat (this year tour. NA SHAKES! Clowning moves), verse (working 2011 MONTA e th om fr p A member of th sign worksho e “sound effect with games that incorporate rhythm ets in the De s� team at one of the MONT eir sock pupp th ith w ANA SHAKES! wo m or rf pe and rhyme) and Design (this year a ts en ud rkshops. St
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At Wit’s End
Much Ado About Nothing by Mark Robert Blackman
H
ave there ever been, throughout all of literary history, two more marvelous characters than Beatrice and Benedick? For my money, the answer is definitely no. Even narrowing the field considerably to just Shakespeare’s great pairings — Kate and Petruchio, Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, Bertram and Helena, Orlando and Rosalind, Gertrude and Claudius, Othello and Desdemona, Viola and Orsino, Launce and Crab — no one holds a candle to the delightful wits Beatrice and Benedick. We’re not certain, but Much Ado About Nothing was likely written between 1598 and 1600, probably between As You Like It and Twelfth Night. It was a period that saw Shakespeare at his zenith as a comic writer. First published in quarto in 1600, the play has been re-imagined and re-staged countless times in the four centuries since Wise and Aspley entered it in the stationer’s register. It is also the direct ancestor of other witty classical plays like Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and of the so-called screwball comedies that were Hollywood staples in the 1930s and ‘40s.
A ‘Merry War’ Don Pedro and his band, fresh from a successful campaign, stop to visit Leonato, who
invites them to stay. Benedick and Claudio are already well acquainted with the region and Benedick at once renews his “merry war” of words with Leonato’s niece, Beatrice, while Claudio falls quickly under the spell of Hero, Leonato’s daughter. The story plays out against a borrowed canvas. Shakespeare likely took the Claudio/Hero/Don John story — Don John is Don Pedro’s nefarious bastard brother —from Ariosto’s epic poem Orlando Furioso but it is believed that he invented the sparring Beatrice and Benedick on his own.
A New Battle Plan Claudio and Hero quickly fall in love and decide to marry. Everyone decides to tarry at Leonato’s until the big event, and to pass the time, Don Pedro suggests that they undertake one of “Hercules’ labors” and make Beatrice and Benedick fall in love with one another. And then a whole lot of eavesdropping ensues. The conspirators “let” Benedick hear quite a number of expressions of pity for poor Beatrice, who, they say, is desperately in love with him and Benedick is forced to reexamine his contempt for Beatrice and realizes that he may actually have feelings for her. Then, perceiving success with Benedick, they try a similar — and no less victorious — method on Beatrice. While the witty skirmishes of Beatrice and Benedick’s battles turn from stinging barbs to revelations of love, unspoken to each other, of course, the Bard gives us a subplot involving the disreputable Don John and a scheme to make Don Pedro think that Hero is being unfaithful to Claudio. And though this device is generally thought of (by people who think about such things) as necessary but not terribly inventive, Shakespeare then suddenly thrusts upon us one of his greatest comic gifts: Dogberry the constable.
‘Condemned to Everlasting Redemption’ Dogberry and his crew of citizen police are not merely comic relief, but Shakespeare gives them a thematic function as well, as they, however accidentally, manage to uncover the plot of Don John and begin the process that leads to the play’s happy conclusion. A master of the malaprop and of inexplicable verbal meanderings, Dogberry, we know from the quarto edition, was likely written for and certainly was played by the famous clown Will Kempe, who along with Shakespeare and Burbage, was one of the core actor-shareholders in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. One of Dogberry’s more memorable speeches finds the puffed-up buffoon listing offenses as follows: “Marry, sir, they have committed false report; moreover, they have spoken untruths; secondarily, they are slanders; sixth and lastly, they have belied a lady; thirdly, they have verified unjust things; and, to conclude, they are lying knaves.” Although, surely, he is best remembered for this: O that he were here to write me down an ass! But, masters, remember that I am an ass; though it be not written down, yet forget not that I am an ass... O that I had been writ down an ass!
says that yes, he will, in fact, take Beatrice for his wife, “but, by this light, I take thee for pity.” Beatrice, like all good wits, wants to have the last word, but Benedick intones, “Peace! I will stop your mouth,” and promptly kisses her. In the end, it certainly turns out to be much ado about not much: just love, really. And how it can bedevil the human spirit and change the course of our lives and make us do things we would never have considered otherwise. Nothing, indeed.
Peace Treaty Dogberry and Don John and the rest notwithstanding, in the final analysis it is still Beatrice and Benedick that we care about the most. The couple manages to get to the altar, though they protest all the way to the end. When Claudio and Hero confront the witty warriors with their own written evidence belying their protestations, Benedick finally caves and
Mark Robert Blackmon is a playwright and Director of Media Relations at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana.
Neither a Borrower or Lender Be The Merchant of Venice by Mark Robert Blackman
Y
ou might think that this cautionary quote I’ve used for a title likely comes from The Merchant of Venice. It doesn’t, though. It’s from Hamlet. Of all of Shakespeare’s plays, The Merchant of Venice may be one of the hardest to define. Often, it is lumped in with the comedies, but it is nothing like the rest of those. Is it a tragedy? Well, it has elements of that genre, certainly. The play twists and turns like a mountain road, contradicting itself sometimes even in the next scene; sometimes in the next line. Perhaps Norrie Epstein, in her book, The Friendly Shakespeare, came the closest to a definition: “In its infinite ambiguity,” she writes, “it is quintessential Shakespeare.” Scholars generally agree that The Merchant of Venice was first performed between 1596 and 1598 and it was first published in 1600. That edition, regarded as accurate, is the basis for the text published in the First Folio. Jews played little, if any, role in English society during Shakespeare’s day. King Edward I had expelled the Jewish population in 1290 and they were not formally allowed to return until the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, some 40 years after Shakespeare’s death. Jewish people were often portrayed on the Elizabethan stage — usually in hideous caricature — as comic or wicked villains. Marlowe’s popular play The Jew of Malta preceded Shakespeare’s play by several years and, by the way, The Merchant of Venice was sometimes known in its day as The Jew of Venice, according to the title page of the 1600 quarto. This little tidbit is intriguing, because, like so much else about this play, it’s incongruous. Titled The Jew of Venice, the title character is
Shylock. Titled The Merchant of Venice, the title character is Antonio. Among the wealthiest merchants in Venice, Antonio is asked by his friend Bassanio for a loan of three thousand ducats — a colossal amount — so that he may leave Venice to woo the heiress Portia. Antonio, whose cash is tied up in his shipping concerns, agrees to cover a bond if Bassanio can find a moneylender. Bassanio turns to the Jewish lender Shylock and puts up Antonio as a guarantee. Shylock, who despises Antonio because he has in the past spat on him for being a Jew, agrees to the loan on the condition that if it cannot be paid back before a specific date, Shylock may take a pound of Antonio’s flesh. Shylock’s demand for “a pound of flesh” has entered the lexicon and has become a synonym for any unreasonable recompense — no matter how lawful it may be. This sensational bargain
fascinated the audiences of Shakespeare’s day just as it still does in our own time. For centuries after the play was written, Shylock was generally played broadly as a repulsive sort of clown or as an unredeemable monster, but it is generally accepted that in the early 19th century, Edmund Kean was the first actor to play the character sympathetically. Since Kean, an astonishing array of talented actors — from Junius Brutus Booth to Al Pacino — have followed Kean’s lead, adding humanity to their characterizations. Four centuries out from its original conception, it is rather difficult to know if a sympathetic rendering of Shylock is entirely due to changing sensibilities or whether the Bard, who was known for complex and multi-faceted characters, deliberately intended it. After all, is not Shylock’s Act III speech, which begins, “Hath not a Jew eyes?” one of Shakespeare’s most eloquent and most soul-stirring speeches? When Antonio’s ships are reported lost at sea and he is unable to satisfy the bond, Shylock has him arrested and brought before the court. Portia and Bassanio have just been married (as have
Gratiano and Portia’s maid Nerissa) when they receive word of Antonio’s plight and hurry to Venice. Shylock refuses Bassanio’s offer of six thousand ducats — twice what is owed — but instead demands Antonio’s pound of flesh, refusing to extend to others the humanity that he insists on for himself. In court, Balthazar (actually Portia in disguise) asks Shylock to show compassion in another one of Shakespeare’s most famous speeches (“The quality of mercy is not strain’d…”) but he refuses. Portia soon seizes on the fine print of his contract noting that it allows Shylock to remove the flesh but “not a jot of blood” of Antonio. Thus, a bit of legal hairsplitting carries the day, like a medieval episode of Law & Order. In the end, Shylock is made to convert to Christianity and the play seems then to commend the virtues of New Testament “Christian charity” over that of harsh Old Testament righteousness. Throughout The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare seems to be insisting to the audience that nothing is what it seems. Villains possess secret virtues, heroes are not without fault, multiple views are presented for virtually every character and situation. It is as fascinating and gripping to experience as it is vexing. In the end, this is a play that can be almost anything you wish. Perhaps your personal thoughts about The Merchant of Venice reveal more about you than they do about the play. One lesson is for sure, though: neither a borrower nor a lender be.
Clarion
Journal Entries from an Actor
Page 7
2011 Tour Sponsors
M
SIP was fortunate enough to have Elise Donohue as part of the 2010 summer company on several occasions. She was the winner of the “walk-on role” package that had been auction off at a previous summer fund raising event. Here are some of her memories from that experience: A walk-on part in A Midsummer Night’s Dream was offered as an auctioned item at The Toast of the Town. As the highest bidder, I would be on stage. Not only that, I was part of the company from the outset. I was there when Joel selected the actors for their parts [during auditions]. I heard them read their parts; watched them interact with each other; listened to discussions of interpretations; as they all became the characters that the audience knows and sees onstage. I saw sets built; costumes fitted and props assembled. Elise Donohue and Tonya Andrews in Then it all came together. Sitting back stage I A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Arch Park watched spellbound as actors left the stage as one in Gardiner. character, changed costumes rapidly and returned to the stage portraying another character. I saw the actors become stagehands when scene changes required it. I saw them manage music and sound effects in between appearances on stage. And when it was my turn to go on, I was always given a helping hand. Now these many months later, I recall what a truly remarkable experience it was for me. It was a whole succession of wonderful moments but two return to my mind with special clarity. One occurred during a performance in the Grove at MSU. As a full moon rose above the trees, I thought of my Mom and brother. Shakespeare had been a sort of bedrock for both of them. I thought how pleased they would have been thinking of me in a Shakespeare play! The other was during our Gardiner performance. The late summer sun was setting. I knew behind the stage, like a backdrop, stood the Roosevelt Arch and beyond that lay all of Yellowstone Park. It was so clear — what an incredible endeavor we have in Shakespeare in the Parks. This summer I’ll be back in the audience. But with a nod to Shakespeare, I’ll remember when I was part of “we few, we happy few, we band of brothers.” My thanks go out to each and every member of the company. ~Elise Donohue
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2011 Tour Coordinators Absarokee
Linda Harris, Absaroka Fine Arts Alpine, WY
Lisa Ann Turner, Star Valley Arts Council Anaconda Rev. John Toles, Anaconda Friends of Shakespeare
Glendive
Ryan Sokoloski, Friends of Makoshika Great Falls
Dick Kuntz, Great Falls Supports MSIP Greybull, WY
Kristine Krieg-Vallandingham, Community of Big Timber
Ted & Sandi Menke, Greybull Arts Council Hamilton Susan Crawford, Hamilton Players Hardin Janie Morissette, Friends of Shakespeare Helena Jeanne Tweeten, Shakespeare in the Parks of Helena
Billings
Heron
Beach, ND
Wade Walworth, Prairie West Development Big Sky
Brian Hurlbut, Arts Council of Big Sky Big Timber
Melonie Trang, City of Billings-PRPL Birney Denise Wood, Friends of Shakespeare Boulder
Karen Davidson, Boulder Arts Council Bozeman Liz Grant, MSU Family & Graduate Housing Bozeman JoAnn Brekhus, Sweet Pea Arts Festival Butte George Everett, Mainstreet Uptown Butte Charlo Caroline Myhre, Ninepipe Arts Group, N.A.G. Chico Hot Springs
Colin Davis, Chico Hot Springs Resort Choteau Pamela Wedum, Choteau Community Arts Studio
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Julia Brewer, Powell Co. Museum & Arts Foundation
Janice Gross, Flint Valley Creek Arts Council Plains Louise Lulack, Plains Woman’s Club Pocatello, ID John Gribas, Pocatello Arts Council & ISU Summer Programs and ISU Cultural Affairs Council Powell, WY Steve Schrepferman, Park County Arts Council
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Pat Hodge, Hobson-Utica Fine Arts Council Kalispell Chuck Jensen, Flathead Valley Community College Student Government and Theater Department Laurel Jean Kerr, City of Laurel Lewistown Nadine Robertson, Lewistown Art Center
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JoRill Jewett & Lori Tribble,Three Forks Business Community Gives Back to the Arts
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Clarion Montana Shakespeare in the Parks PO Box 174120- 258 Black Box Theater Bozeman MT 59717-4120 406.994.3901 www.shakespeareintheparks.org
Introducing the Summer 2011 Season Montana Shakespeare in the Parks Summer 2011 Tour Schedule JUNE 15 Bozeman Much Ado 8:00 pm 16 Bozeman Much Ado 8:00 pm 17 Bozeman Much Ado 8:00 pm 18 Bozeman Much Ado 8:00 pm 22 Bozeman Merchant 8:00 pm 23 Bozeman Merchant 8:00 pm 24 Bozeman Merchant 8:00 pm 25 Bozeman Merchant 8:00 pm 27 Hobson-Utica Much Ado 6:30 pm 28 Lewistown Merchant 6:30 pm 29 Malta Merchant 6:30 pm 30 Wolf Point Merchant 6:30 pm JULY 1 Sidney 2 Beach, ND 3 Glendive 4 Ekalaka*
Much Ado Merchant Much Ado Merchant
6:30 pm 6:00 pm 8:30 pm 5:00 pm
MSU-Grove MSU-Grove MSU-Grove MSU-Grove MSU-Grove MSU-Grove MSU-Grove MSU-Grove Utica Clubhouse Lawn Fergus County Fairgrounds - Gazebo PC Court House Lawn Bridge Park Veteran’s Park Beach Swimming Pool Park Makoshika State Park Dahl Memorial Lawn
* Declaration of Independence will be read prior to the performance by the company and artistic director.
5 Miles City Merchant 6:30 pm 6 Birney Much Ado 6:00 pm 7 Sheridan, WY Merchant 6:30 pm 8 Forsyth Much Ado 6:00 pm 9 Hardin Much Ado 6:30 pm 10 Roundup Merchant 6:00 pm 11 Powell, WY Much Ado 6:30 pm 12 Cody, WY Merchant 6:30 pm 13 Laurel Much Ado 6:00 pm 14 Absarokee Much Ado 6:30 pm 16 Townsend Merchant 6:00 pm 17 Big Timber Much Ado 6:00 pm
Pumping Plant Park Poker Jim Butte Kendrick Park Rosebud County Courthouse - East Lawn South Park (Corner of Lewis and Division) City Park Washington Park Canal Park Laurel Practice Football Field Fishtail Family Park Heritage Fun Park City Park
18 Billings Much Ado 6:30 pm 19 Billings Merchant 6:30 pm 20 Red Lodge Merchant 6:00 pm 21 Worland, WY Much Ado 6:00 pm 22 Greybull, WY Merchant 6:00 pm 23 Cooke City Merchant 5:30 pm 24 Gardiner Much Ado 6:00 pm 25 Anaconda Merchant 6:00 pm 26 Dillon Merchant 6:00 pm 27 Pocatello, ID Much Ado 6:30 pm 28 Pocatello, ID Merchant 6:30 pm 29 Alpine WY Merchant 6:30 pm 30 Driggs ID Much Ado 6:30 pm 31 W. Yellowstone Merchant 6:00 pm AUGUST 1 Deer Lodge Much Ado 6:00 pm 2 Philipsburg Merchant 6:00 pm 3 Hamilton Much Ado 6:00 pm 4 Boulder Merchant 6:00 pm 5 Bozeman - Sweet Pea Festival* Much Ado 4:30 pm 7 Bozeman - Sweet Pea Festival* Merchant 5:00 pm 8 Great Falls Much Ado 6:00 pm 9 Great Falls Merchant 6:00 pm 10 Cut Bank Much Ado 6:00 pm 11 Ft. Benton Merchant 6:00 pm 12 Choteau Much Ado 6:00 pm 13 Three Forks Much Ado 6:00 pm 14 Chico Hot Springs Resort Merchant 6:00 pm 15 Helena Much Ado 6:30 pm
Pioneer Park Pioneer Park Lions Park Sanders Park Greybull City Park Silver Gate Park Arch Park Washoe Park JayCee Park Idaho State University Quad (South End) Idaho State University Quad (South End) Star Valley Ranch Lions Park Union Pacific Dining Hall Lawn Old Montana Prison Yard Philipsburg City Park Daly Mansion Jefferson County Fairgrounds * admission is charged at this event
Lindley Park
* admission is charged at this event
Lindley Park University of Great Falls University of Great Falls Cut Bank City Park City Park Lawn at Skyline Lodge Stevenson Park Front Lawn at Chico Pioneer Park Next to L&C Library
16 Helena Merchant 6:30 pm 17 Kalispell Much Ado 6:00 pm 19 Seeley Lake Much Ado 6:00 pm 20 Heron Much Ado 6:00 pm 21 Eureka Merchant 6:00 pm 22 Libby Much Ado 6:00 pm 23 Libby Merchant 6:00 pm 24 Liberty Lake, WA Much Ado 6:00 pm 25 Superior Merchant 6:00 pm 26 Plains Much Ado 7:00 pm 27 Charlo Merchant 6:00 pm 28 Salmon, ID Much Ado 6:00 pm 29 Missoula Merchant 6:00 pm 30 Missoula Much Ado 6:00 pm 31 White Sulphur Springs Much Ado 6:00 pm SEPTEMBER 1 Big Sky Merchant 2 Butte Much Ado 3 Manhattan Merchant 4 Bozeman Much Ado
All performances are free . . . every summer!
6:00 pm 6:00 pm 6:00 pm 1:00 pm
Pioneer Park Next to L&C Library Flathead Valley Community College Double Arrow Resort Heron Ball Field Historical Village Middle School Amphitheater Middle School Amphitheater Pavilion Park Behind High School Sanders County Fairgrounds Palmer Park Sacajawea Outdoor Amphitheater U of M Oval U of M Oval WSS School Lawn Town Center Mural Park Alterbrand Park Ellen Theater**
**this indicates a free indoor performance