RIVERTON—What can two actors do with a bare stage, a couple costume flourishes, a ladder and the immortal language of William Shakespeare?  

They can inhabit the Forest of Arden, a castle in Elsinore or a balcony in fair Verona. They can embody a lovestruck teenager or a tragic prince, a fiery heroine or a whole band of comically inept actors. They can showcase the glimmering language and keen wit that makes Shakespeare so enduring. 

Alice Wilkinson and Nicholas DiPuma do just that in “Shakespeare’s Greatest Scenes,” a roughly one-hour sprint through five Shakespeare plays that is touring Fremont County schools, libraries and other venues this month. The free 20-show run began March 5 and wraps up March 21. The actors are also offering free public workshops. 

“The goal really being to make Shakespeare free and accessible and to just reach as many people as possible and let people in Fremont County know that this exists,” Wilkinson said. 

Nicholas DiPuma and Alice Wilkinson act out the nunnery scene from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” on March 5, 2026, at Central Wyoming College in Riverton. The performance is part of “Shakespeare’s Greatest Scenes,” which is touring schools, libraries and other Fremont County venues in March. (Katie Klingsporn/WyoFile)

The tour also marks a comeback of sorts for the Wyoming Shakespeare Festival Company. Though the festival has long been active in central Wyoming, it went dormant following the 2024 death of co-founder Diane Springford. 

After a period of regrouping, the company is working to reignite community theater with tours like this one, said Artistic Director Erika Dierking. 

With its muscular acting and array of moods, the play should appeal to both theater newbies and Shakespeare scholars. Wilkinson and DiPuma have both worked extensively in festivals and educational tours related to the Bard, and it shows. The actors use the whole of their bodies — breath, posture, voice, affect and gesture — to convey a covey of characters who are by turns dimwitted, devastated, devious and deliriously in love. 

“It allows two people to become a whole range of characters,” Wilkinson said. As an actor, she said, “you really get to flex your instrument.”

Wilkinson and DiPuma met working at the Texas Shakespeare Festival, which had an educational touring program along with staging traditional performances. 

“I really fell in love with performing for kids and seeing the impact that can have, and that rural places deserve theater just as much as urban places do,” Wilkinson said. “And that this can be the first time a kid has ever seen a play, let alone Shakespeare.”

Wilkinson, a recent transplant to Dubois, wanted to bring that educational touring component to Wyoming, and the Wyoming Shakespeare Festival Company was all for it. The performance includes scenes from five plays: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Hamlet,” “As You Like It,” and “The Taming of the Shrew.” 

Nicholas DiPuma transforms characters several times during a March 5, 2026, performance of “Shakespeare’s Greatest Scenes” at Central Wyoming College. The show is touring schools, libraries and other Fremont County venues in March. (Katie Klingsporn/WyoFile)

“It’s just something you can watch and enjoy and sink into with us a little bit,” DiPuma said. Talk-backs follow performances, and separate workshops will focus on group-based exercises meant to explore the craft. 

As in any good Shakespeare performance, there is music, cross-dressing and comedy. Iconic lines and snoring men, sharp rapport and other such stuff as dreams are made on.

Katie Klingsporn reports on outdoor recreation, public lands, education and general news for WyoFile. She’s been a journalist and editor covering the American West for 20 years. Her freelance work has...

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  2. These two are fantastic! We at the Texas Shakespeare Festival in Kilgore Texas have been following Alice and Nick for several years. Come visit us in July to see them perform in repertory during our 41st season: midsummer night’s dream, hamlet, Emma, 1776. See four shows in one weekend. Alice and Nick will welcome you as will East Texas.

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