Montana State’s Minton wins Fulbright to further study site-specific theater

Gretchen Minton, professor of English at Montana State University, will travel to Townsville, Australia, to study site-specific theater. MSU Photo by Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez

BOZEMAN – A Montana State University professor has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award that will take her to Townsville, Australia, to study applied environmental theater — a style that sets its action in the real world rather than a traditional theater — and write an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.”  

"It’s a big honor to receive the Fulbright,” said Gretchen Minton, professor in the Department of English in MSU’s College of Letters and Science.  

“It’s exciting to be recognized and given the opportunity to travel, research and meet new people, fostering new relationships with scholars on the other side of the globe,” she said. In addition to research and presentations at James Cook University, Queensland, Minton will guest lecture at the Australian National University in Canberra. 

Minton has spent more than two decades teaching and researching Shakespeare, and she also serves as dramaturg, or literary adviser, for Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, an outreach program of MSU’s College of Arts and Architecture. She is also co-founder of Montana InSite Theatre, a group that stages plays in site-specific outdoor locations. 

Much of her earlier research included writing in-depth annotations and footnotes to Shakespeare’s works, as well as those of many of his 16th- and 17th-century contemporary playwrights. After working on annotations of Shakespeare’s lesser-known play “Timon of Athens,” Minton was fascinated by the idea that the bard’s plays could be placed in Montana to speak about environmental challenges.  

“Shakespeare’s understanding of non-urban environments really exceeds most of his contemporaries,” Minton said. “He is immersed in thinking about the flowers, trees and waterways — and how humans relate to those ecosystems.”  

She learned from local scientists and historians to create Montana-based performances, including “Timon of Anaconda,” a historical look at the copper kings and the Berkeley Pit through the lens of Shakespeare, and an adaptation of “Macbeth” depicting a futuristic Montana with few natural resources.  

“In both adaptations, we were using Shakespeare’s language and themes to reflect on our own times and environment,” she said. Her research on Shakespeare in Montana led her to writing a book of the same name that was published in 2020 which won the Montana Book Award in 2020 and the 2021 High Plains Book Award.  

Minton will go to Queensland while on sabbatical in the spring of 2023 and use the Fulbright appointment to expand upon her environmental humanities research, including an adaptation of Shakespeare’s comedy “Twelfth Night.” Minton will collaborate with Claire Hanson, a lecturer at the Australian National University who also specializes in Shakespeare and ecocriticism.  

“Twelfth Night” is considered a quintessential Shakespeare play that starts with a tragedy – a storm and shipwreck – and then transitions to comedy. Minton plans the adaptation to address environmental topics surrounding the Queensland ecosystem, including the degradation of the Great Barrier Reef and increasing ocean temperatures, she said. 

“I'm interested in how Shakespeare's stories can help us get beyond those moments of tragedy and environmental upheaval to think more creatively and find solutions,” she said. 

As a part of the research, Minton plans to work with the James Cook University Blue Humanities Lab, a research group with members from anthropology, history, literary studies and political science, whose research is centered on the “blue” spaces such as reefs, oceans and rivers. 

“Environmental humanities have shown that it's really important to collaborate with other humanities scholars, but also collaborate with scientists,” Minton said.  

Once the adaptation is created, Minton and Hanson will workshop the script with a local theater group to get feedback from the public.  

When she is back in Montana, Minton plans to work on a future environmental adaptation to Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” to address changes in annual snowfall and snowpack. She hopes to use what she will learn from her collaboration with Hanson and Australian scientists to enhance the production’s look at different “blue” topics, such as snow levels and glaciers, she said. 

 “I look forward to my work with Claire and the Blue Humanities Lab,” she said. “After we get feedback about how this adaptation works in a different environment, I want to take that experience to apply it to future productions.”