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: (Stratford) Measure for Measure

Carmen Grant and Tom Rooney (photo by Michael Cooper)

Moulded Out of Faults
Stratford mounts a good production of a mediocre play

by Stuart Munro and Dave Ross

@StuartMunroTO
@dmjross

Measure for Measure has long been recognized as one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays.” While usually classified as a comedy, the themes of betrayal, political intrigue, and sexual coercion are anything but a laughing matter. The result is that the play ends up with a bit of a split personality – half intense political and romantic drama, and half farce, involving some clownish characters and an aging prostitute. Any director tackling this play certainly has a tough task ahead of them. 

Stuart Munro: Stratford veteran (and former Measure for Measure star), Martha Henry, lends her more than capable skill to this challenging material, and under her watchful eye the production probably succeeds better than it might’ve otherwise. Henry has chosen to set the play in 1949 post-war Vienna, a political atmosphere that, as Henry says in her director’s notes, is a perfect “setting for a story that depends on intrigue, chance, opportunity and picking up whatever you can in the street in order to make a living.” Henry’s direction uses the unconventional space of the Tom Patterson Theatre brilliantly, and I was constantly reminded of why this is one of my favourite venues in the world. The aesthetic created by Henry and designer John Pennoyer does a good job of conveying a film noire-inspired world of faded glory that is, slowly, on the way to recovery. Moreover, Todd Charlton’s sound design goes a long way to marrying the two disparate parts of this play – the comedy and the drama.