Montana Shakespeare in the Parks to present free show for schoolchildren on Presidents Day

BOZEMAN - This Presidents Day, Feb. 19, members of Montana Shakespeare in the Parks will host a special free performance for elementary school children at Montana State University's Black Box Theater.

Now in its 16th year, Montana Shakes! will perform an original, interactive play based on Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" as a fun learning experience for children in kindergarten through sixth grade.

This year, a four-actor cast will perform "Goofs, Gaffes, Flubs and Fumbles." The play will last roughly 40 minutes and be followed by a Q&A session. The show pulls from Shakespeare's themes of friendship, identity, belonging and feeling isolated or different, according to Kevin Asselin, director of Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, an outreach program of MSU's College of Arts and Architecture. 

"They are teaching students that it is OK to be different," he said.

The performance begins at 1 p.m. at the theater, located at West Grant Street and South 11th Avenue on the MSU campus. The show is free, but a reservation is required, which can be secured online at www.events.eventgroove.com/event/Montana-Shakespeare-In-The-Parks-Presents-Goofs-87094.

Montana Shakes! is scheduled to travel to 65 elementary schools in Montana and Wyoming this semester to perform interactive plays. Along with the performances, Montana Shakes! holds workshops at schools that can be adapted for different age groups. These workshops cost schools or organizations half the actual cost of the program with donors and grants funding the rest.

This season of Montana Shakes! opened Jan. 19 and will run through April 12.