Measure for Measure
Reviewed by Dana Martin
Foolish Production Compan at the Broadwater
Thru April 2.
Loose morals, licentious proposals and live vinyl rule the night at the Broadwater in Hollywood. Foolish Production Co’s latest production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure is a mixed bag of madcap moodiness.
The Duke of Vienna (Katherine Landreth) is desperate for moral intervention for his wayward city. He skips town, leaving his deputy Angelo (Mikey Mulhearn) in charge of enforcing a pious sort of discipline. Angelo begins to resurrect old laws outlawing fornication (among other bummer laws) and soon young Claudio (Nick Molari) is arrested for getting his girlfriend Juliet pregnant. Angelo decides to make an example out of Claudio by sentencing him to death. Desperate, Claudio sends the wheeling and dealing Lucio (Libby Wahlmeier) to find his sister Isabella (Sarah Hinchcliff), who’s recently taken a vow of chastity in order to become a nun. Lucio convinces Isabella to reason with Angelo on brother Claudio’s behalf. When they meet, Angelo makes a shocking proposition to Isabella: spare Claudio’s life by sleeping with me. Isabella refuses, telling her distraught brother to prepare for death.
In the meantime, the Duke sneaks back into the city disguised as a friar, discovers Angelo’s scumbag behavior — as well as Lucio’s boastful slander — and seeks revenge. When Angelo issues a death warrant for Claudio, a level-headed Provost (Brandon Doyle) arranges to deliver a random head to Angelo in lieu of Claudio’s. The Duke announces his return, reveals his true identity and confronts Angelo. Claudio, alive and well, happily reunites with Isabella. Angelo and Lucio meet a bleak fate by way of forced matrimony.
There’s a wide range of experience among the six-member ensemble. The cast remains onstage for most of the evening, further crowding an already tight space. The actors move through scenes and text so fast they rarely allow the needs, desires and intentions of the characters to resonate. Performer/director Mikey Mulhearn plays Angelo in a fashion akin to Joffrey Baratheon: emotionally immature, spoiled, volatile and threatening. Sarah Hinchcliff’s Isabella is chaste and likeable though lacks emotional variety. Libby Wahlmeier finds a delightfully scheming fop in Lucio and provides some much-needed levity. Nick Molari’s Claudio digs into the character’s sheer panic and desperation. Katherine Landreth’s swing between the Duke and the friar is subtle while Brandon Doyle provides solid support as Provost and other supplementary characters.
Under Mulhearn’s direction, the show moves quickly and the play’s five acts and multiple plot twists are condensed into one action-packed hour, making the story more palatable for a modern audience. Mulhearn extracts the play’s dark comedic elements and its crude humor wherever possible. The story is underscored by records casually spun by the cast throughout the evening, effectively creating a moody, shoe-gazer vibe, sometimes in opposition to the pace of the scene. Kat Landreth’s costumes are layered blacks, with effective embellishments which help unify the world of the play.
Foolish Productions’ Measure for Measure is edgy, hip and rough-around-the-edges. The production’s breakneck pace is scant on nuance but provides an audacious incarnation nonetheless. The debauched city of Vienna leaves little room for hope as corrupt city leaders revive oppressive laws in order to assert moral control. Religion is weaponized while hypocrisy and injustice run rampant. While the production stops short of drawing overt parallels to today’s headlines, the subject matter speaks for itself.
Foolish Production Company at The Broadwater/Studio Theatre, 1078 Lillian Way, Hlywd.; Sun. 9 p.m.; thru April 2. https://foolishproductionco.org/buy-tickets. Running time: 1 hour with no intermission.
