Shakespeare by the Sea’s Measure for Measure: Meat and Potatoes Bard in the Wild West

With rare exceptions, COVID-19 has all but put a stop to live theatre. But Shakespeare by the Sea would be damned before failing to perform two shows for their 2020 season, like they’ve done every year this millennium. Yes, they weren’t able to stage them concurrently (as they usually do), and they weren’t able to do them in front of an audience, and the second got pushed into 2021. Finally, with their new Measure for Measure, it’s mission accomplished. 

As with October 2020’s Titus Andronicus, rather than stitch a show together or use digital bells and whistles, Shakespeare by the Sea has opted to present Measure for Measure exactly as they would have staged it in parks throughout Southern California in non-pandemic times. Set and lighting are no-frills; the stage is mic’d, with sound delivered through a PA. The only appreciable difference is that multiple cameras means you get multiple angles, rather than the single view you’d get from your seat.

This is both good and bad. Being that ShakeSea has neither fancy equipment nor pro camera operators or editors, the angles and shot selection can be clunky and random. That said, since Titus the troupe has upped their streaming game, roughly doubling the number of cameras. This includes two entirely new angles looking up at the actors from each side of the foot of the stage. These also appear to be the highest quality of the bunch (or maybe just seems that way because they’re closest), so I’m not so sure the best choice wouldn’t have been to present the entire show alternating between this pair of shots. Nonetheless, the coverage is a clear improvement over Titus.

While prior to now, ShakeSea has always staged shows more or less faithful to how they were mounted in the Bard’s own time (the significant exception being piped-in music between scenes), Measure gets a Wild West setting, an update that should be acceptable to all but the most dogmatic purists, if for no other reason than how well it fits the theme. 

To wit, Duke Vincentio (Patrick Vest) laments that permissiveness during his 19-year reign has engendered a populace with too little respect for law and order. But because he doesn’t want to be regarded as a tyrant for suddenly changing tack, he fakes a diplomatic trip abroad and leaves the strict and supposedly virtuous Lord Angelo (Jonathan Fisher) in charge to enforce the laws as he sees fit, then sticks around in disguise to watch what happens. 

Ever the student of human nature, William Shakespeare’s portrayal of how moralistic pols often turn out to be the biggest hypocrites, as well as how women are used and abused by the patriarchy, is as apt today as it was in the Wild West or Elizabethan England. But because Measure is neither particularly funny nor tragic (it’s considered one of his “problem plays” to categorize), it’s not as straightforwardly engaging as many of his better-known works (including another problem play, The Merchant of Venice). But ShakeSea wanted to utilize their pandemic season for plays not often produced — and to be sure, it may be quite a while before you find another local production of either Measure or Titus.

Although there’s nothing especially standout about this production — it’s meat-and-potatoes Shakespeare with a Wild West mise-en-scène (including short bursts of music reminiscent of Ennio Morricone) — Shakespeare by the Sea can always be counted for a cast and crew who know what they’re doing (and believe me, I can’t say that about everyone). And as always, the proceedings come in at almost exactly two hours. No one can say these cats aren’t consistent and efficient.

Shakespeare by the Sea’s Measure for Measure streams on-demand. Cost is free but donations gratefully accepted, reservations are required to receive the link.  For more details, call 310- 217-7596 or visit shakespearebythesea.org. If you already know you wanna see it, go here.

Details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs0Tbz-v3Bs