July 7, 2007 ” 7/7/07 ” was a “lucky” day in which Americans set the record for numbers of marriages, and one innocent San Diego babe, two weeks overdue, was born at 7:07.
At 8 p.m. July 7, the Old Globe Shakespeare Festival birthed “Measure for Measure,” one of the so-called “problem” plays. The production is surely the most exciting in the repertory of three; exciting in that it speeds by so quickly, is perfectly cast and is absolutely gorgeous visually. The work is not so rife with familiar speeches as “Hamlet” or so overtly entertaining as “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” but it is truly memorable.
Director Paul Mullins, whose Globe resume includes “Macbeth” in 2005, mines the dark humor of the work, which is, as Harold Bloom observes, “Shakespeare’s farewell to comedy.” As always, humor issues from the Bard’s take on humankind’s foibles, and in the case of “Measure for Measure,” which concerns serious issues, it’s particularly sour. In Shakespeare’s out-of-left-field final scene, Mullins directs the pure and level-headed heroine, Isabella, to turn to the audience and perform a facial “take” when the Duke, whom she barely knows except in his disguise as friar Lodowick, surprises her with a marriage proposal.
The plot: Duke Vincentio apparently departs Vienna, leaving the enforcement of its laws in the hands of the ostensibly virtuous Angelo, who subscribes to the letter of the law, particularly in regard to morals. He shuts down all the brothels and sentences one Claudio to death for impregnating his fiancée before the marriage ceremony. When Claudio’s sister, the novitiate Isabella, pleads with Angelo to commute the sentence, Angelo finds Isabella’s sense and chastity titillating and offers Claudio’s life for her virtue.
The Duke, who returns to Vienna in disguise to see how Angelo fares in his charge to enforce the law, saves the brother and sister and metes out justice to all, including Claudio’s fascinating friend, Lucio, brilliantly played by Lucas Hall, who on alternating evenings plays the title role in “Hamlet.”
Others are equally impressive. James Knight plays the righteous Angelo with just the right combination of covert lust and rigidity. As Isabella (the extraordinary, deep-voiced Stephanie Fieger, Silvia in “Two Gentlemen of Verona”) observes in Act II, scene ii, ¦ man, proud man, dressed in a little brief authority”¦plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven as makes the angels weep”¦.”
Tom Hammond, seen as an utterly different leonine Duke in “Two Gents,” portrays Duke Vincentio. Bruce Turk, Claudius in “Hamlet,” is outstanding as the prison Provost. Rhett Henckel plays Claudio, and adding to the depth and excellence of the company are Celeste Ciulla as Mistress Overdone (gaudy, jaw-dropping gown by Robert Morgan); Eric Hoffmann as her bawd, Pompey; Charles Janasz as Escalus, the Duke’s advisor; Sam Breslin Wright as the comic constable, Elbow; and Jonathan McMurtry as Barnardine, the drunken prisoner who refuses to be executed. All play contrasting roles in the repertory.
Ralph Funicello’s modified repertory set is dark and opulent for this work, set in Edwardian Vienna (I swear the bare-chested woman holding up the pediments are copied from Balboa Park’s Casa de Balboa). Morgan outdoes himself on costumes, with matching spats, ties and gloves for the dandified Lucio, a smashing P.T. Barnum look for Pompey, and the aforementioned gown and hat and their like for Mistress Overdone and her “girls.” Christopher R. Walker’s music and sound design enhances all three productions, as does York Kennedy’s lighting.
This season’s repertory is the Shakespeare Festival’s most uniformly excellent and even since its resurrection four years ago. Possibly a contributing factor is artistic director Darko Tresnjak’s choice to stage only one of the three plays, “Hamlet.” Another is the overall strength of the repertory company.
The Shakespeare repertory of “Measure for Measure,” “Hamlet” and “Two Gentlemen of Verona” continues at 8 p.m. nightly except Monday through Sept. 30, at the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre of The Old Globe, 1361 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park, San Diego.
For information, repertory schedule and tickets, go to www.theoldglobe.org or call (619) 23-GLOBE.