Great Local Shows - Theatrical Reviews
| Title | Measure for Measure |
| Organization | FreeFall Stage |
| Date(s) of show | July 27 - August 26, 2012 |
| Reviewer | Dick Frantzreb |
| Review | I have always felt that I needed to read a
Shakespearean play before seeing it performed (or at least read a
summary) in order to be able to follow the action. That was not
necessary for this production from Free Fall Stage, because writer and
director, Tana Aivaz Colburn, has taken Shakespeare’s meaning and
converted it to a style of English more reminiscent of the writing of
Jane Austen. And to make that work better, the play has been moved from
1500s Vienna to England of the early 1800s.And I must say that I was
impressed with the quality of the adaptation. It preserved much of
Shakespeare’s wit, elegance of expression (in similes and metaphors, for
example), – as well as his philosophic observations on life and death,
justice and mercy, and sin and righteousness. More importantly, the
adaptation gives the actors the opportunity to act (rather than merely
recite lines), and there was a lot of outstanding acting, some of the
best I’ve seen lately. There was even an heroic attempt to maintain
British accents, and though some faded as the play proceeded, several
kept their accents consistent. But with or without accent, the words
could be easily understood, giving clarity to the play’s action and
emotions.
Although the set was static (probably an unavoidable
limitation in this venue), the costumes were very well done and
added a lot to the theatrical magic. But in the final analysis, the
success of this enterprise rested on the writing. There’s no
question that much of the enduring appeal of Shakespeare is in the
quality of his language, but it can’t be fully appreciated without
annotation of the archaic words and obscure references, so some of
Shakespeare’s sharpest wit and most brilliant use of language is
lost on the unprepared audience. But Ms. Colburn has saved us from
this disappointment, and made it easy to follow what is an engaging
plot, and appreciate the wisdom and passion that are an important
part of what this most famous playwright has given us. This is
indeed Shakespeare, and an entertaining introduction to one of his
less familiar plays.
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