Even though he was illiterate, mountain man Jim Bridger loved Shakespeare so much that he hired people to tell him Shakespeare’s stories at campfires as he broke trails in early-day Montana. So began an evolving relationship between the Bard and the Big Sky state, said Gretchen Minton, English professor and Shakespearean expert at Montana State University.

 

Minton will give more details about the long and perhaps surprising love affair at “Shakespeare’s Last Best Place,” her lecture for the next installment of the MSU Provost’s Lecturer Series set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, at the Museum of the Rockies. A reception will follow.

 

Minton said that even though Shakespeare wrote more than 400 years ago in a distant land, his poetry and plays still resonate here, and she believes that Shakespearean literacy is high in contemporary Montana.

 

“It’s because of Montana Shakespeare in the Parks,” said Minton, who has for many years also served as the dramaturg, or literary adviser, for the company that performs Shakespeare in scores of small Montana communities each summer. Minton said some of her national colleagues are surprised that the students she teaches in MSU Shakespeare classes in the Department of English in the College of Letters and Science are often quite knowledgeable about Shakespearean plays, perhaps more than their counterparts in urban communities.

 

“They have grown up with (the plays),” she said.

 

Minton has written a book about Shakespeare in Montana that will be published by the University of New Mexico Press in the coming year. She said that, in addition to Bridger, mountain man Joe Meek expressed an appreciation for Shakespeare, and explorers James and Granville Stuart toted a book of Shakespeare’s plays during their travels. Shakespeare’s plays were performed as early as the mining days in Virginia City, and women’s groups in the early days of such places as Helena and Fort Benton read the plays, she said. 

 

Minton’s research into early Montana’s interest in Shakespeare — as well as place, landscape and legend — has taken her to Carnegie libraries in a host of small towns across the state. Those travels also became family adventures as she often is accompanied by her husband and young son.

 

The latest act in Montana’s romance with the Bard began in 1972 when Shakespeare in the Parks launched. Since that time, the troupe “has built a remarkable legacy,” Minton said.

 

While history is one of the lenses through which Minton studies Shakespeare, so is the how and why his work still matters. She said she believes the plays and poetry remain applicable because they still show us rich and complex ways of explaining human issues.

 

“Shakespeare is the most famous writer of all time, with wide global appeal,” she said. “His plays offer myriad opportunities to speak to so many moments in history.”

 

Minton’s own history with Shakespeare began when she was a student. As far back as age 14, she said she considered a career studying literature, particularly because she had some excellent teachers who inspired her while growing up in Chicago and Seattle. A turn working in theater further bolstered her interests. 

 

As an undergraduate at the University of Washington, where she earned her bachelor’s degree, an opportunity to see “King Lear” performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in London had a profound impact and is a memory she still cherishes.

 

Minton earned her master’s and doctorate from the University of British Columbia and taught in Minnesota for a time before coming in 2006 to MSU, where she joined her brother, Tim Minton, who is a professor of chemistry. In addition to her popular class on Shakespeare, she also teaches courses in British literature and world literature, among others. In addition, Minton is also the dramaturg at the Bozeman Actors Theater. She serves as committee member of the Shakespeare Association of America, and she gives lectures at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

 

Minton said her years of living in Montana have given her a deep appreciation for its people and landscapes. Exploring the history of Shakespeare in Montana, she has often reflected on a prophecy made in “Julius Caesar:”

 

“How many ages hence; / Shall this our lofty scene be acted over; / In states unborn and accents yet unknown.” 

 

“As usual, Shakespeare has the perfect words for it,” Minton said.

 

The Provost’s Distinguished Lecturer Series, which is free and open to the public, recognizes faculty distinguished at MSU for their scholarship and creativity. Faculty presenting during the series will reflect on the inspirations for their work in lectures suited for professionals and lay people alike. For more information, contact the MSU Office of the Provost at 406-994-4371 orprovost@montana.edu.