Review: (Vancouver) Measure for Measure

Problem Play Vivid Solution
Strong Actors Visionary Direction 

by David C. Jones

@iamdavidcjones

William Shakespeare wrote Measure for Measure in either 1604 or 1605 and although considered a comedy (based mostly on its rather convenient happy ending) it has some very dark storylines and thus has been classified by scholars as one of the “problem plays”. Along with Troilus and Cressida and All’s Well That End’s Well the play explores complex themes like carnal desire vs marital fidelity, religious devotion vs human desires, the needs of the one vs the needs of the many (society).

Review: (Vancouver) Hamlet

An Austere and Handsome Production
Heady first half gives way to emotional second.
by David C. Jones

Kim Collier is a detailed and passionate director with a keen sense of “what if”? Her take on Shakespeare’s classic and oft produced Hamlet is done with such precision and heart that it is often very compelling.

If you haven't seen or read Hamlet, the story is: The ghost of his dead father tells Hamlet a prince of Denmark that it was Hamlet’s uncle who murdered him. Hamlet is vengeful but questions his own sanity; after all it was a ghost. Hamlet has a girlfriend named Ophelia and she has a father named Polonius and brother named Laertes. His uncle Claudius married Hamlet’s mother Gertrude. Hamlet uses some wandering actors to confirm his Uncle's guilt while Claudius uses former school chums to assess what is wrong with Hamlet.