Bozeman Magazine

Gretchen Minton, Montana State University’s Shakespeare expert and a professor in the Department of English since 2006, will present her inaugural Letters and Science Distinguished Professor lecture, “’What country, friends, is this?’ Shakespeare, Adaptation, and the Global Environment,” on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 6 p.m. at The Ellen Theatre, 17 W. Main St., in Bozeman.

Minton will lecture about her time as a Fulbright Scholar in Australia earlier this year. During her months in coastal north Queensland, she wrote and workshopped an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” Her talk will reflect upon her experiences in an alien land and her quest to use Shakespeare as a way of understanding the intertwining of Australia’s human and more-than-human histories. By translating the play into a radically different place and time, she was able to generate performative possibilities that address local environmental crises. Minton is a highly accomplished scholar and editor of Shakespeare. She is co-founder of Montana InSite Theatre, a group that stages plays in site-specific outdoor locations, and a literary adviser for Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, an outreach program of MSU’s College of Arts and Architecture. Earlier this year, she was awarded the College of Letters and Science Distinguished Professorship, the highest honor the college bestows upon a member of its faculty, in recognition of contributions to the college, MSU and the scholarly community. Minton’s sixth book, “Shakespeare in Montana: Big Sky Country’s Love Affair with the World’s Most Famous Writer,” a historical look at Montanans’ documented fascination with the Bard since the state was founded as a territory, received the 2020 Montana Book Award and 2021 High Plains Book Award for Nonfiction.

Doors open at 5:00 p.m. and refreshments will be available for purchase from the Ellen Theater concession stand.

Parking is available on the street or in public parking lots near the Ellen Theatre. The Bridger Parking Garage is located between Tracy and Black Avenues along Mendenhall Street, just half a block north of Main Street. This state-of-the-art multi-level garage accommodates 435 vehicles. The first two hours are free, and $1 per hour after that.

The College of Letters and Science Distinguished Professorship is the highest honor the college bestows upon a faculty member. The three-year appointment recognizes a faculty member's contributions to the college, MSU and the scholarly community. For a list of faculty members previously honored as College of Letters and Science Distinguished Professors, visit: https://www.montana.edu/lettersandscience/facstaff/distinguished.html.