Theater review | Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" gets uneven outing

Theater Review |

All too often in the theater as in life, ambition exceeds accomplishment. Sadly this is the problem with Ghost Light Theatricals' current production. It's ambitious but not well realized.

"Measure for Measure" is one of Shakespeare's dark comedies.

Hypocrisy comes to the fore when the Duke of Vienna announces that he's going away and places his respected aide, Angelo, in charge.

Angelo turns out to be lascivious and morally corrupt. He would deflower a chaste novitiate while condemning her brother to death for fornication. Ah! But the Duke hasn't gone away. He's disguised himself as a friar to gather intelligence about his city. Thus he learns of Angelo's planned misdeeds and manages cleverly to stop the mayhem. The Duke makes certain that Angelo will be judged in the same way he judged others — measure for measure. The Duke, insists on justice, however, and he provides it in merciful form.

Played on a bare stage with no props but a rope, a bench and a chair, it's up to the actors to make this work resonate. Daniela Melgar as Isabella, the novitiate, brings both humility and a steely will to her role.

David van Wert's Angelo is a chameleon, a model of respectability when it's required and a lecher when Isabella's piety excites him. Molly Mahar's Escalus exemplifies bureaucratic efficiency at its finest.

But director Beth Raas isn't as successful in bringing forth similar quality from the other actors. The pacing is off. Lines that should resonate get lost in the deluge of words. The clownish figures, so important in many Shakespeare comedies, here seem unaware that understatement is usually more powerful than overacting.

This company has admirable goals: to present classical and classically influenced plays in innovative and relevant ways. The 2008-09 season program includes, in addition to "Measure for Measure," Molière's "Misanthrope" and August Strindberg's "A Dream Play." It's a season that should be of great interest to serious theatergoers, and one must hope that the best is yet to come.

Nancy Worssam: nworssam@earthlink.net