When it comes to performing a play, one of the most important aspects is the set, but for a professional acting troupe that comes down to Powell annually this proves to be a challenge to overcome on the way to giving schools a look into professional Shakespeare.

“It’s cool on tour like this because we’re traveling, so that also affects how we can do scenes… Everything has to fit in a truck, and it all does. This will all fit in one pickup truck back there,” said Sam Cheeseman, a Chicago-based actor, pointing towards the set that was in the process of being dismantled in the Powell High School auditorium.

Macbeth, a tragic, 400-year-old story surrounding black magic and unchecked ambition, was performed in front of Powell High School students and faculty the morning of Oct. 17. 

Shakespeare in the Parks, a program led by Montana State University, is celebrating its 50th year of performing plays of Shakespeare’s famous works in multiple states. The current tour, Shakespeare In The Schools, has come to Powell High School annually for more than 20 years with the exception of the fall of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They do three main tours a year, a big summer tour for the parks and then in spring we do a K-6th tour, and this is our fall tour where we go to high schools for ten weeks,”  Cheeseman said. “We’re bringing Macbeth to about 51 schools.”

The traveling performers are brought from all across the country to Bozeman, Montana, to prepare the show for a few weeks before traveling to each and every school to give their performances on Shakespeare. 

Those few weeks includes editing scenes and building the set, which calls for some innovation on their part due to the requirement for them to be able to move from school to school. 

“When we were building the banquet scene we were like ‘we can’t bring a table’, we can’t fit a table in the truck so we might be the only Macbeth that I’ve ever seen that doesn’t have a table in the banquet scene,” said Cheeseman, who played Macduff during Monday’s performance.

Aside from the play itself, the actors also engage with students after the show in a series of educational workshops that are designed to help students better understand the shakespearean arts which vary from storytelling in stage fighting to a civics themed class where students can discern which character should rightfully be king.

“Thats my favorite part of this tour specifically,” said Jen Klink, another actor in the production. “I think Shakespeare is great to perform especially for young people but I think that the most gratifying part of it for me is actually getting to interact with y’all in a classroom setting.”

The Park County Arts Council pays for the performers to have shows and host the workshops in Powell, Cody and Meeteetse annually.

“It draws interest into our theater and drama program,” said Tracy McArthur, an english teacher at the high school and member of the Park County Arts Council. “Theres not a lot of professional productions that come to Powell … so It’s an opportunity for students to see a professional Shakespeare play preformed by professionals.”