'Measure for Measure' returns this weekend

During modern times, we may view the conflict of chastity and promiscuity with more leniency than with the reserved Elizabethan values of Shakespeare's time.

William Shakespeare's play, "Measure for Measure," is an eloquent example of the law attempting to regulate morality, especially sexual behavior.

Director Chris Wendell '03's version of "Measure for Measure" opened last weekend at 185 Nassau Street's Acting Studio and will continue through this weekend.

Having studied Shakespeare since high school, and specifically "Measure for Measure" since his junior year at Princeton, Wendell successfully amplified the sexual energy within the play to introduce a fresh comedy on the regulation of our natural desires and the consequent string of lies told to repress these urges.

Focusing the light on different areas of the stage, depending upon the scene, helped utilize this forlorn space in 185 Nassau to its maximum capacity, demonstrating the transcendent nature of the theme of the eventual ruin in every character's life.

To evoke a feeling of uneasiness, chains hanging from the ceiling also decoratively foreshadow the unwelcoming punishments that loom over the city.

Set during a time when the society of Vienna was experiencing an alarming increase in prostitution as well as general moral decay and lawlessness, the play begins with the Duke, played by Matthieu Boyd '03, hastily departing the town, which will now be ruled under the stricter authority of Angelo, performed by Matthew Berner '05.

The purity of the law and Angelo's own purity are tested against the temptations of sexual promiscuity and liberalism of this new age.

One of Angelo's first acts is to condemn Claudio, played by David Bengali '04, to death for having impregnated Julietta out of wedlock.

With this basic conflict in motion, the plot of "Measure for Measure" thickens with the introduction of the wholehearted and chaste nun, Isabella. As opposition to the play's abundant sexual promiscuity, the character of the nun, played by Natasha Badillo '03, was one of the strongest and purest parts.

Badillo executed her lines with aggressiveness and controlled drama, exhibiting the nun's dedication to her brother, Claudio, and her religion immaculately.

All performances in the play were extraordinary, especially when taken into consideration the flexibility of each actor, performing as at least two characters each.

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Playing the role of a priest and the Duke, Boyd demonstrated his multidimensional acting ability and persuasion: he had convinced the audience that he was truly a priest and also an honest Duke.

Berner's performance of Angelo and the executioner, Abhorson, were also remarkably well done and entertaining.

And among one of my favorite characters, Scott Eckert '03 spiced up Lucio's dialect with a New Jersey slang and wise-guy attitude.

Holding a lollipop in his mouth at all times, sporting a red top hat, red tie and red socks, and occasionally sitting in the audience, Lucio was a wheeler-and-dealer of comical sorts.

Bettina Adger '03 as the foolish guard, Elbow, relieved the normal sternness associated with punishment, especially upon arresting Pompey.

The whip and rope around Pompey's neck, furtively sexual symbols, did not help Elbow's stern plea against sexual debauchery.

Marriage would seem to be a reward, but in the play, there could be no worse punishment for bachelors Lucio, Claudio and Angelo.

Upon return to his true identity, the Duke uses marriage threats as simply one of his comical methods to restore his town to chaste stature.

Throughout the production, the Duke acts as an objective voice for the play's moral consciousness; the Duke, and Boyd's other character, the priest, even encourage and counsel the confused Isabella and confesses Mariana and Claudio.

What seemed like genuine concern of a ruler, however, we later learn are simply his selfish intentions to marry Isabella.

Once we realized that the priests have sexual thoughts, that the authority figures abuse their power and that the men treat women as possessions, we become justified in our skepticism about the institutions in which the Duke and Angelo tempt us to believe.

Because of this decrease in overall credibility of authority, at the end of the play nothing seems settled morally or in terms of plot-resolution.

Wendell points out that he chose "Measure for Measure" because the challenges the play poses and the many questions it leaves unanswered about problems both of society and dramaturgy.

"In some ways, the despair of the modern and postmodern era might make us more willing to accept allegorical readings of this play as promising salvation and healing through mercy . . . but then it may also have caused so much skepticism that even the methods of resolution seem hollow and cannot be trusted," he said.

Wendell's sense of Shakespeare's humor contributed to the overall charm and tact of sexual suggestions abundant throughout the play.

Along with a great acting and stage crew, the play was successful as a satire on higher authority's arrogance of values, and investigation of what impulses, if any, are at the core of the human drive and whether or not they are controllable.

The Program in Theater and Dance will continue presenting "Measure for Measure" on Feb. 20-22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Matthews Acting Studio at 185 Nassau Street. Tickets can be purchased at the door or through the Frist Box Office.