This year’s production and workshops of Shakespeare’s Richard III traveled a little under 8000 miles across Montana and Wyoming, bringing the bard to almost 13,000 middle and high school students.
If you had any doubt that a 400 year-old text might enthrall today’s young audiences, Associate Artistic Director Riley O’Toole shares how new audiences find their comfort level.
“There’s this line toward the end of the play where one of Richard’s soldiers (Tyrol) is in conversation with him, and he asks ‘How many soldiers do the opposing forces of Richmond have? And Tyrol responds ‘Oh, six or seven thousand is their power’ and we discovered immediately at the first stop on the tour - Billings High School - that the line led to an eruption of 30 seconds or so where we had to pause the show while all the students were chanting ‘Six s even, six seven” and doing the gesture that goes with it.”
O’Toole goes on to explain that the troupe incorporated the routine into the production, even encouraging future audiences to “get it out of their system.”
O’Toole said the content rang true in some unique situations. Two performances at the Pine Hills Youth Correctional Facility in Miles City, the audience tapped into Richard III’s resentment, relating in post-performance workshops that the retribution theme was revealingly relevant.
O’Toole also learned from some technology upgrades. There had been an elaborate projection system planned for the tour, but dollars and logistics wound the gear haul down to a couple of screens. O’Toole says the complexities of moving constantly resulted in breakage, but, overall, the company was pleased with the results, even as they limped into the last several performances down one screen.
Montana Shakespeare in the Parks kicks off their next season with a live-streamed announcement January 5, 2026 - you can find out more at their website, shakespeareintheparks.org.
