Measure for Measure...

[fajrdrako]

Went last night Beulah and I to see Measure for Measure put on by the Salamander Theatre's Young Shakespeare Company, on a park only a few blocks from my place. Good timing, good location. I'd be happy if someone brought a Shakespeare play to my neighbourhood every week. Though I suppose it wouldn't work in winter.

Measure for Measure: An odd play to choose, in my opinion, and I've never known what to make of it. Much more problematic (for me) than The Taming of the Shrew, for example, and not as entertaining - mostly because I have trouble getting a handle on it. Are any of the characters particularly likeable? Before we saw it, Beulah asked me what the story was, and I was hard put to give a description that was more than bare bones: Angelo threatens to kill the brother of a novice nun unless she has sex with him. I'd mostly forgotten the interesting themes of corruption, repression, and sexual license that are tossed around. As with much of Shakespeare, I'd say that what mostly comes across is a plea for tolerance of sin - sexual sin, anyway. No one in the play seems to think deception is a sin.

We were both impressed by the actress who played Elbow and a few other parts, Emilia Alvarez. I really liked Cynthia Bernstein as Pompey. Anna Lewis as Isabelle was disappointing - not a bad performance, but it lacked both character and interpretation. Kyle Villeneuve as the Duke had good diction and carrying power. Cari Leslie was confusing in playing both Mistress Overdone and Abhorson - I couldn't keep track of when she was which. The company had a shortage of men, and many women playing men's roles, which added something when we had women-playing-men kissing or fondling women-playing-women. Good costumes. No set, except for a medieval-style wooden chair.

There were lots of kids in the audience, and I wondered what they made of it. It wasn't the ongoing physical comedy that the Company of Fools presents.

I was a little surprised how much Elbow was like Dogberry.

Comments

[puritybrown.livejournal.com]

I saw an RSC production of MfM some years ago. It's a difficult play, but rewarding, I think, if you're willing to put the effort into it. The lack of a definite resolution, and the general sense that all of the characters are equally unlikeable and selfish, makes it both harder to get into than most of Shakespeare's plays and (in my view) ultimately more interesting. There's a lot to think about there.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

There's certainly a lot to think about. I saw an amazing production of it at the National Theatre in London once, all set in a Caribbean background. The guy playing Angelo (dressed in Jesuit style) was quite amazing. This production didn't have that kind of panache, but it did bring out some of the strange ironies Shakespeare was playing with.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

If it wouldn't work here in winter (and I assure you it wouldn't), it certainly wouldn't work where you are.

I seem to have lost track of local Shakespeare productions. I need to locate them again.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

it certainly wouldn't work where you are.

We'd all freeze to death by the end of the first scene.

I seem to have lost track of local Shakespeare productions.

We just don't get enough of them. I believe the National Arts Centre will have a few next year - I hope to see them. Meanwhile the pay-what-you-can productions in the part tide me over.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

We'd all freeze to death by the end of the first scene.

We'd all just die of hypothermia [g].

We just don't get enough of them. I believe the National Arts Centre will have a few next year - I hope to see them. Meanwhile the pay-what-you-can productions in the part tide me over.

There used to be a Shakespeare festival in the state capitol about 20 miles south of here every summer, but it seems to have gone defunct (I used to buy season tickets -- four productions -- every season until it vanished). There used to be a Shakespeare in the Park season every summer in Seattle, too (and I have the t-shirts to prove that both existed), but I can't locate any information on it anymore, either. I take that back. I just looked again, and they're doing Richard III and Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Now if I can just get up there... Tacoma doesn't do Shakespeare to the best of my knowledge except for the very occasional little theater production that I never seem to find out about till it's past.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The last live production of Richard III I saw was in Broolyn NY, with Ian McKellen in the lead. It would be hard for other productions to live up to that. I saw Two Gentlemen of Verona at Stratford Ontario a few years ago, a very spiffy post-modern production - I liked it, but there's a play where I never actually remember the story.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Wow. You saw the theater version of one of my favorite Shakespeare films. I am so jealous.

I've never seen Two Gentlemen of Verona.

But I don't know if I'm going to make it up there. Not long after I wrote that last reply, I was watching the news and was reminded that there's going to be construction work on the freeway between here and Seattle that's going to shut a several-mile-long section down completely for a couple of weeks in August, and I'm just not sure it would be worth the traffic nightmare it would be to get up there to see it [sigh].

Oh, well. At least I know Greenstage still exists, and there's always next year...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

You saw the theater version of one of my favorite Shakespeare films.

Yes. It was utterly wonderful. Though there was a funny thing about that night. I went with a number of friends, and some of us sat near the front, and the others had seats near the back. Those of us who sat near the front though the show was wonderful and particularly admired the acting. Those who sat near the back weren't all that impressed. We all wondered why. Was being able to see the faces close up so important? I guess it was.

I was even more impressed when I saw Ian McKellen in Macbeth, but that was a much simpler production. It didn't have a train in it!

I think there's contruction everywhere this year. I've never seen so much construction.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

I've never seen Ian McKellen onstage, alas. Although I did see a good production of the Scottish Play in Stratford (England, not Canada) once.

And I think all of western Washington is under construction at the moment. Seriously.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I've seen Ian McKellen on stage three times. The first time, I'd never even heard of him - that was Macbeth. Then I saw in in Ottawa (of all places!) in Acting Shakespeare, which was utterly brilliant. Then I saw him in Richard III in Brooklyn. I wonder if I'll ever get to see him again? It seems unlikely!

Western Washington? Eastern Ontario, too. They must be in collusion.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Wow. I wonder if he'll ever come to Seattle (highly unlikely, but then I would have thought Ottawa highly unlikely, too).

I think the whole of North America is in on the road construction collusion, myself.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Truly, people like Ian McKellen don't usually come to Ottawa. Unfortunately. But that was when he was less famous internationally, and the National Arts Centre had recently opened and they were very ambitious - they got all sorts of incredible shows - not just the home-grown stuff we seem to get now. The Stratford Festival used to one of their plays to Ottawa every year - that was before everyone decided they coulsn't afford to tour any more.

[filkferengi]

At Confluence last weekend, the play was "Grease Wars", a musical mashup of "Grease" & "Star Wars". The company was likewise short on men, so Luke & Han were played by women, which gave their scenes with Leia a slashy subtext that would've brought your heart glee. :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It's fun when that happens. It sounds hilarious - I wish I could have seen it! Since the Han/Leia relationship is one of my least favourite ever, it could only be improved by the changes.