Shakespeare in Sandpoint

The Festival at Sandpoint ended last week, but Lakeview Park hasn't seen its last premier performers of the summer.

At 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks will give a free performance of “Hamlet” on the shore of Lake Pend Oreille.

The nonprofit company is in the midst of its most ambitious summer tour to date — over three months, the cast will perform at outdoor parks 78 times in 65 unique communities. 

MSIP’s mission is to reach rural and underserved populations and inspire appreciation of the arts. While the company’s inaugural season in 1973 spanned seven Montana cities, its 2024 tour will visit towns in Montana, Idaho, Washington, North Dakota, and Wyoming. 

Each summer, the organization recruits a small cast of paid professional actors from across the country to perform two productions. In addition to “Hamlet,” the troupe is showing “The Winter’s Tale,” one of Shakespeare's final plays.

According to actor and summer tour manager Riley O’Toole, “The Winter’s Tale” is more lighthearted than “Hamlet”; he describes it as one of his favorite works from the English playwright.

“It’s like Shakespeare’s action-adventure,” he said. “It’s like Star Wars.”

An endorsement from O’Toole carries weight. The actor has participated in 20 MSIP productions and has performed more than 600 times with the company. He holds a BFA in acting from the University of Minnesota, and his credits include the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Arizona Theater Company, and Salt Lake Acting Company. 

In March, O’Toole was hired to the staff position of associate artistic director at MSIP and expects to take a break from acting with the company.

“This will be my last tour for a while,” said O’Toole.

If O’Toole is taking a bow as a perennial cast member with MSIP, he’s going out with a bang. In addition to his role as 2024 summer tour manager, O’Toole plays the elaborate lead character in “Hamlet.”

Among Shakespeare’s most iconic plays, “Hamlet” is the 17th century “Game of Thrones.” In the tragedy, the titular prince of Denmark attempts to exact revenge against his uncle, who has murdered Hamlet’s father to usurp the throne and marry the queen.

All the while, the prince grapples with loss, grief, confusion, and his own tenuous sanity.

“It’s a lot of doom and gloom,” O’Toole admitted.

To suit its unique outdoor format and travel schedule, MSIP cuts every play into a neat two-hour block with no intermission. The company works closely with MSU English professor and Shakespearean expert Dr. Gretchen Minton each year to craft productions suited for the cast.

O’Toole has a proclivity for playing “clown characters” — in last year’s “The Three Musketeers,” he portrayed Athos, the oft-inebriated elder of the trio with a mysterious past.

As a result, MSIP is bringing forth the humor in “Hamlet.” “We’ve really mined the comedy and the lightness in it,” said O’Toole. “To find the ‘jester Hamlet’ has been fun.”

While MSIP has no problem recruiting performers — the company auditions talented candidates each year — cast members have their work cut out for them. The company travels with its own stage, costumes, props, and sound system; the troupe spends hours setting up each evening only to pack it away again and hit the road the next day.

“You’re hired to be a construction worker,” said O’Toole with a laugh. “It’s exhausting. It’s like being on any road trip.”

Despite the challenges, more than half of the 11 members of last summer’s cast have returned for 2024. “That makes a huge difference for us,” O’Toole said.

MSIP’s aggressive travel schedule comes with a perk — the troupe receives the enthusiastic support of each community it visits.

Residents often cook for actors and host them in their homes when they pass through. “Every night, it’s opening and closing,” said O’Toole. “That brings forth excitement and generosity.”

It’s that appreciation from the communities that has propelled MSIP in its endeavor for the last 51 years. The significance of Shakespeare’s works, according to O’Toole, comes from their enduring appeal.

“Shakespeare has stood the test of time,” said O’Toole.

In “Hamlet,” his character is “trying to figure out who he is and what his purpose is,” he said. “It’s just someone asking himself all the questions we ask ourselves.”

The actor acknowledged that high school English classes have turned many people into Shakespeare skeptics. According to O’Toole, viewing a performance of one of Shakespeare’s plays is an entirely different experience to reading a script. 

“It’s not meant to be read, it’s meant to be performed,” he said. “Don’t be scared away by the language,” he added in regard to Shakespeare’s archaic verbiage. “It’s like going into a dark room and allowing time for your eyes to adjust.”

While the dialect of “Hamlet” may be antiquated, its themes of love, loss, anger, and forgiveness are evergreen. 

“The point isn’t to keep updating it,” O’Toole said of the play.

“It reminds us that we are ancient — we are still struggling with the same things people were struggling with 400 years ago.”