Shakespeare returns

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

Hang onto your goffered frills, Shakespeare is returning to Sandpoint.

Since 1973, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks has brought the plays of William Shakespeare to rural communities throughout Montana and Idaho to help expose small towns to the English plawright’s seminal work. Last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traveling troupe was unable to stage its free performance, but announced last week it was planning on returning to Sandpoint with a production of the lesser-known play Cymbeline on Aug. 21.

The man, the myth, the legend: Bill Shakespeare. Courtesy photo.

Local host Christine Holbert of Lost Horse Press said the details are still being worked out, but so far the performance has a green light.

“Just about a week ago I got the call and they decided to go ahead and make the whole tour, hoping that everybody will stay safe by summer,” Holbert told the Reader. “Many of us will be inoculated by then, and also we usually do it in a big enough area outdoors, so groups coming in can keep to their COVID pods and easily keep six feet away from others.”

The venue has yet to be chosen, said Holbert, but she’s narrowing in on a few options, including Lakeview Park and potentially downtown Sandpoint, if the city government allows streets to be blocked off for the performance.

Except for the lost year due to COVID-19, this will be the seventh year since Montana Shakespeare in the Parks has visited Sandpoint. Prior to the traveling series being hosted here, it was performed in Heron, Mont., since 1973.

Holbert is one of many local hosts who write grants and help facilitate the actors and stage hands. Through her nonprofit Academy of Northwest Writers and Publishers, Holbert has organized many large, complicated events in the past, such as Spokane’s Get Lit and the Lost Horse Northwest Writers’ Conference, but this one is always a pleasure to host, she said. It’s offered free to all thanks to grants and local funding in each community.

“I feel like if I get grant money with different organizations, I should be doing something publicly with it, not just publishing books,” she said.

In past years, Holbert said local families would host the traveling actors, but this year they’ll be staying in hotels due to the pandemic.

Cymbeline is a tragedy set in ancient Britain and based on the legends surrounding the early Celtic King Cunobeline. Although it’s listed as a tragedy, critics often classify Cymbeline as a romance or comedy.

Holbert said one reason why Shakespeare’s works are so well received hundreds of years later is because, “Human nature stays consistent through hundreds of years and Shakespeare was such a genius, he was able to get the essence of that and instill it in these wonderful plays.”

Cymbeline will be performed on Aug. 21 at 6 p.m. at a location to be determined. It will be preceded by pre-play activities starting at 1 or 2 p.m. featuring live music, art exhibitions and potentially a play performed by local theater students. It is free and open to all.