Measure for Measure is one of the darker of Shakespeare's
comedies, and while some of it is very funny, there's quite a
bit of nasty business going on. The Duke (Hal Smith-Reynolds)
leaves town, putting Angelo (Jason Kuschner) in charge.
Angelo has a dark streak a mile wide, and a past just waiting
to haunt him. He also considers himself to be an immovable object,
but he hasn't reckoned with Isabella (Maureen Hennigan),
an irresistible force in her own right. And the Duke hasn't really
left, he hangs around in disguise to see what develops. But there
are serious life issues raised here: fidelity, honor, passion,
authority, responsibility -- but they are leavened with a little
vaudeville.
Director Ted Zurkowski found some interesting ways to present
these conflicts, to varying degrees of success. There's been some
tampering with the script (surely Shakespeare didn't write dialogue
about dollars, or suburbs), and perhaps it overstates the obvious
to have Kuschner also play a jailer/executioner to exemplify Angelo's
dark nature. Kuschner plays Angelo quite dark enough to make the
point on his own, but never to excess. It is his intensity that
makes the major conflict of Measure for Measure as affecting
as it is.
In a fit of "mine is bigger than yours," Angelo has
condemned Claudio (Ron Micca) to death for committing the
crime of fornication. (It seems this was an old, unenforced edict
still on the books.) Claudio sends his sister Isabella, a novitiate,
to plead his case. Angelo is not unmoved, but power (and his past)
have gone to his head, and he offers to trade Claudio's life for
Isabella's body. Isabella's quandary is the crux of the play --
it's a perfect set up, and practically unresolvable. And besides,
Measure for Measure really is a comedy, so most of the
other characters are played for their humor -- either overtly,
like Lucio (Stephen Kaiser, dressed like a character out
of Damon Runyan), the pimp Pompey (Doug Mancheski, who
also gets to gets to play a Friar), and a madam, Mistress Overdone
(Josephine Gallarello, who also gets to play a nun) --
or incidentally, like Escalus (Tom Fenaughty), and the
Provost (Elliott George Robinson), who must try and make
sense of what the Duke's absence hath wrought. Even the Duke himself
gets caught in mistaken-identity traps of his own making.
It was in the acting where this production measured up. Although
costumed for gothic melodrama, Kuschner's intensity and anger
were compelling; Hennigan was a sturdy Isabella; Rachel Russell
as Mariana was just right as both Angelo's partner in lust and
his bête noir; the befuddled panic of Fenaughty's Escalus
was, by the end, surprisingly moving. Especially outstanding were
Kaiser's Lucio, consistently and surprisingly funny, and Smith-Reynolds
as the Duke, played with the authority to be in charge, and the
intelligence to clean up the mess of his own making. He and Isabella
really did seem suited to each other, and their pairing was a
satisfying conclusion.
The production was well-staged, using the bi-level playing area
to maximum effect. In spite of the bright pink colors which dominated
the set (by Eric Lemire) and the melange of costume styles
(by Bengal), the flavor of this play was decidedly mixed,
with both the bitter and the sweet on display.
Box Score:
Writing: 1
Directing: 1
Actin: 2
Set: 1
Costumes: 1
Lighting/Sound: 1
Return to Volume Four, Number Eleven Index
Return to Volume Four Index
Return to Home Page
Copyright 1998 David Mackler