Measure for Measure

In a city like New York, you'd think there'd be an abundance of nascent theatre companies just chompin at the proverbial bit to get at the Bard. After all, from a production standpoint, Shakespeare's a breeze - all you need are an ensemble of strong, intrepid actors to create the texture of the world, and minimal set and costumes... just enough to give us pretty pictures or minimalist 3-D Rorschach blots to ponder while the words wash you. Perfect for companies rich in spirit and imagination but low on funds. Yeah, you'd think there'd be a ton o' shit like that to see... but there isn't. Real estate in NYC has made that kind of poetic risk-taking a rare and unlikely occurrence in post-Giuliani New York. That's why, when I saw that the Blessed Unrest were tackling not just Shakespeare, but Measure for Measure (one of my faves) up at the Women's Interart Theatre on 52nd St., I chomped on a bit of my own to go see it.

My review begins in the lobby, 20 minutes before showtime, on the coldest night of the year. You can tell the Blessed Unrest are a poor company (I mean that in a good way) because they wisely keep you out of the theatre until 10 seconds before curtain, and use the time to sell you beer, wine and Vodka cocktails (there may have been muffins too. or something). I suddenly felt a little guilty for conniving an industry comp, and sidled with my date up the "bar" and ordered a couple of VD's (vodka drinks). This was a very good sign, I thought... any company that wants to get you tanked before showing you their vision of one Shakespeare's strangest and funniest "problem plays" about moral posturing and hypocrisy has probably got something pretty interesting up its sleeve. Good Shakespeare is FUN - the really compelling interpretations are always the ones that go at it balls-to-the-wall and don't shy away from the sometimes-uncomfortably-extreme levels of ultra-violence and debauched sex. Unfortunately, Measure for Measure has neither - but rather strange dialogues about both. Thus the "problem". At least I had my vodka - I was ready for anything.

I always find it hard to write critically about shows that are, by their own descriptions, "experimental". By definition, experimental shows are tests of experience, visions instead of formulas, hard to pin down. Blessed Unrest's production was an amalgam of dance, physical theater and "found text". It's that last one that I'm on the fence about. I guess there's just enough purist in me to not want the rhythm of Shakespeare interrupted by incongruous interjections of "poetry" that someone...found...somewhere. The spontaneous outbursts of said "found text" (usually coming from a ranting Julietta) felt a little like they were trying to "force" me to draw some kind of meaning from the juxtaposition... and I just didn't. And I didn't want to. I wanted to listen to Measure for Measure and look at pretty pictures. The good news is that, for the most part, that's what ended up happening. The actors were, on the whole, solid and confident with the work. Craig Bridger played Angelo - the Deputy that offers to trade life of a nun's brother for a chance to get 'in-and-out-of-the-habit' with sis - with an understated evil that was just creepy. This really is Angelo and Isabella's play, after all. Even Claudio, the condemned brother, and his lover Julietta are only minor characters supporting the moral dialectic between the Church and the State.

The only set was a white porcelain bathtub on wheels, which was occupied mainly by Claudio and Julietta, often engaged in some type of physical dance-theater shenanigans which served as interludes between scenes. Again, perhaps it was the vodka drinks, but the I didn't necessarily "get" the bathtub symbolism (if it were intended)... but I will say this: If you're only going to have one set piece, a bathtub is a good one. They almost always look good on stage, and you always wonder what's going to happen in them. They are "empty vessels" waiting to be filled. Bathtubs also provide the audience with a dada-esque catalyst for imagination. Whereas the "found text" was limiting, a bathtub turns out to be freeing. Who knew?

Measure has been called a "problem play" not only because it defies the labels of comedy and tragedy, but because it's ending - and ultimate message - are completely unclear in Shakespeare's text. In a "wtf?" moment at the end, the goodly Duke who has been working behind the scenes on Isabella's behalf suddenly decides that that he would like to fuck the nun and decrees that she shall be his. On the surface, this can read like a typical Shakespeare "happy ending", and is (shockingly) often played as such. But scratch the surface - just a little, with your pinky - and this turn of events is much, much darker. Thankfully, Blessed Unrest knows this and ends their performance with a physical montage of Isabella being royally raped (physically and spiritually) in the bathtub by the patriarchy - a silent scream frozen on her face. The corporate state sodomizing the innocence right the fuck out of us. That I can understand.