Review: Shakespeare's controversial problem play, MEASURE FOR MEASURE, finds its way to Shakespeare Dallas!

Mikaela Baker as Isabella and Carson Wright as Angelo 

 

Measure for Measure

Directed by Jenni Stewart

Produced by Shakespeare Dallas

Audience Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes plus 10-minute intermission

Accessible Seating: Available

Hearing Devices: Available

Sensory Friendly Showing: Not available

ASL Showing: Not available

Sound Level: Comfortable overall, with a couple of brief instances of substantially louder music transitions

Noises or Visuals to Prepare for: Sex work references and implied depictions of sex; comical depictions of severed body parts, jarring music

Reviewed by Stacey Simpson Calvert

As for you, say what you can, my false o'erweighs your true. -- Angelo, Measure for Measure

I had the pleasure of experiencing Shakespeare Dallas' first wintertime/indoor production in several years, William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. Staged at Theatre Three in the round, this is an excellent, well-paced and wonderfully acted production. I highly recommend you see it, both for the thought-provoking content as well as the high quality of this production.

M4M is known as one of the Bard's "problem plays," or one characterized by difficult or complex subject matter and internal shifts in tone. The play is neither straightforward comedy nor tragedy but has elements of both. Director Jenni Stewart and the talented cast navigate these shifts with great agility; although I did at first find some of the modern transition music somewhat jarring, Stewart's modern way of retelling this old story works, and works well.

First, if you tend to avoid Shakespeare plays because you are concerned you won't understand what's going on, fear not! These actors make sure you understand every nuance of the intricate plot through the use of verbal emphasis, shifts in tone and pitch, eyebrow waggling or raising, body language, and many other non-verbal ways of further explicating the text. Ethan Norris as Duke Vincentio/Friar Lodowick had an especially natural way with the lines, speaking them with a relaxed but articulated flow that helped me follow along easily, even though this is one of Shakespeare's works that is less familiar to me. You will no doubt recognize some of the famous lines and collect some new favorites, including "what's mine is yours, and what is yours is mine," and "O, what may man within him hide, though angel on the outward side!"

Moreover, most of the themes are just as relevant to human-kind today as they were in the early 1600s, though occurring in a different social and cultural context. The play is about the corruption and misuse of power; how easily lies can overcome truth; the way a person's ethics can be highly situational; and an examination of what the concepts of "mercy" and "justice" really look like from different perspectives. The story is set in Vienna, where Duke Vincentio (Norris) secretly disguises himself as a monk to go among the people and see for himself what's happening in the city. He puts his deputy, Angelo (a tightly-wound, oily Carson Wright) in charge while telling him he will be away on state business, giving the deputy complete authority to act in his stead. Angelo uses (misuses?) this authority in his sentencing of Claudio (Doak Webb), who has had premarital relations with his now-pregnant fiancee. Although this crime of fornication is considered an outdated notion and would normally be overlooked as long as a marriage takes place, Angelo strictly construes the law and condemns Claudio to death. Through bawdy-house residents hilariously named Mistress Overdone (Nicole Berastequi, tottering in her high heels and narrow skirt) and Pompey Bum (a stylishly sassy Brandon Whitlock), we learn that the strait-laced Angelo has also issued a proclamation that all houses of ill repute in the suburbs of Vienna will be razed.

Claudio's swaggering, loud-mouthed friend Lucio (in a fantastic performance by Omar Padilla) convinces Claudio's virginal sister Isabella (Mikaela Baker), who is about to take vows as a nun, to intercede on her brother's behalf. Isabella pleads her case for mercy, which Angelo, from his lofty perch high above the stage, rejects out of hand. Eventually, as the two argue passionately, Angelo begins to lust after the innocent young woman and offers her an awful choice: yield her virginity to him to free her brother, or retain her chastity and see him die. And so we see an all-too-common behavioral pattern that has played out many times in art and in life: a seemingly pious authority figure, who seeks to stringently enforce the rules for everyone else and condemns their lack of purity, is himself one of the worst offenders. Wright makes Angelo entirely hateable in this scene, coldly directing a defiant Isabella to "fit thy consent to my sharp appetite" and arrogantly assuming she will have no choice but to fall in line. Baker gives Isabella a strong voice, even in a situation where her character has no power and seemingly no recourse. It was chilling (and unfortunately familiar) to watch a horrified Isabella threaten to publicly expose Angelo's evil proposition, only for him to scoff at her that no one would believe her: that "my false o'erweighs your true."

Isabella's steadfast refusal to bend her morals leads her to go to her imprisoned brother and tell him to prepare for death, for she cannot sacrifice her immortal soul to save his earthly life. This is where the disguised Duke returns to the action, dressed as a monk named Friar Lodowick and sent to ensure that the condemned may confess their sins before execution. The clever Duke, outraged by the young novice's account of Angelo's abusive tactics, arranges a subterfuge to make it seem like Angelo is going to bed with Isabella, when in fact he will be doing the deed with his erstwhile betrothed Mariana (Caitlin Chapa), whom he coldly rejected years ago upon a change in her fortunes, but who still longs to marry him (just go with it). This will fulfill the "deal" to spare Claudio's life, preserve Isabella's innocence, and consummate Angelo and Mariana's betrothal, in a win-win-win for everyone except the despicable Angelo. (I enjoyed imagining the glee that an audience of Shakespeare's day would have felt upon being introduced to this tangled and far-fetched plot development. It's just SO...utterly and delightfully Shakespearian!)

Unsurprisingly, Angelo reneges on the deal even after (supposedly) taking Isabella's innocence and seeks to have Claudio beheaded, leading to all sorts of shenanigans (and some comic relief) involving gathering the body parts of a dead pirate, a drunken murderer named Barnardine (T.A. Taylor) who refuses to be executed until it's more convenient, and the clownish Pompey unwillingly apprenticing with the disgusting executioner aptly named Abhorson (Adrian Godinez). Eventually the Duke reveals himself and passes out sentences to Angelo as well as the trash-talking Lucio, who has been put in the uncomfortable position of slandering the duke to the (fake) friar as well as the friar to the duke. The ending is somewhat surprising and a bit ambiguous, in a good way!

As many characters as I've already mentioned, there are quite a few more who appear throughout the play. The nimble ensemble do justice to all of them, with props especially to Berastequi for a convincing job in such a variety of roles as a brothel owner, a nun, a prison warden, and Claudio's pregnant fiancee. T.A. Taylor is funny as both the malapropism-spouting, doltish constable Elbow as well as the drunken prisoner Barnardine. Chapa (a judge, a nun, and Mariana) and Godinez (as wise judge Escalus and the executioner) round out the fine ensemble and seamlessly transition between their multiple roles.

In addition to Stewart's playful direction and brisk pacing, I enjoyed the way the company made full use of the space, from top to bottom and in all corners of the theater, as well as the way the characters sometimes broke the fourth wall and briefly interacted in and with the audience. The dialogue (sound by Kellen Voss) was crystal clear throughout. The mostly modern, not Elizabethan, costumes (Korey Kent) underscored the timelessness of the story and its familiar dilemmas and included some nods to 1950s fashion, with a few special touches in the way of the sparkly red shoes of the fool Pompey and the hapless Elbow's "dog catcher" look. Claudio and his friends' clothing and bearing reminded me a bit of 50s "greasers" and I appreciated this unspoken analogy. 

Shakespeare Dallas's production of Measure For Measure definitely measures up! I highly recommend you see it during its run at Theatre Three's Norma Young Arena Stage in Dallas through January 28.

On with the show!

Stacey Simpson Calvert