Montana Shakespeare in the Parks will return to Powell this weekend, performing “Henry IV, Part I” on Saturday. The play begins at 6:30 p.m. at Washington Park, 351 W. Second St. in Powell.

The company will then present “The Merry Wives of Windsor” at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Canal Park, 1444 Alger Ave. in Cody (below the rec center). Sponsored by the Park County Arts Council, the performances are free to all.

The 11 professional actors touring with the company were chosen out of a highly competitive pool from auditions in Bozeman, Chicago, Minneapolis and Houston.

Kevin Asselin, the company’s executive artistic director, is directing “Henry IV, Part I,” while Chicago-based Marti Lyons is the director for “The Merry Wives of Windsor.”

The recent centennial of WWI inspired Asselin to set “Henry IV, Part I” in that era.

“The play has such a deep relationship with the true meaning of honor,” Asselin said. “Shakespeare gives us multiple viewpoints on what honor means to us as individuals.”

He said it has a great relationship to Montana.

“If you look at the veteran population through the past 125 years, Montana leads the nation in terms of veterans per capita,” Asselin said. “I felt the connection would be exciting for us to explore.”

Wyoming ranks fifth highest in the nation for the largest number of veterans, with 14.1 percent of the state’s residents having served in the military.

The Montana Shakespeare in the Parks company will travel over 7,000 miles this season, which started in June and continues through Sept. 3. Their tour schedule includes 61 communities in five states — Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Idaho and Washington.

It’s a “Summer of Falstaff” as one of Shakespeare’s most popular characters features prominently in both plays. The drunken knight is a foil to Prince Hal in “Henry IV” and he figures as the catalyst for the comic action in “Merry Wives.” Returning actor Steve Peebles will play the old, fat scoundrel.

Montana Shakespeare in the Parks is an outreach program of Montana State University’s College of Arts and Architecture. The free performances are made possible through individual donors and a generous grant from the Wyoming Arts Council funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wyoming State Legislature.

Montana Shakespeare in the Parks will offer its stage and microphones for the hour prior to the performances for local talent to showcase. Contact Steve Schrepferman with the Park County Arts Council at 307-899-6693 to reserve a time.