Propriety. Purity. Power. Of Shakespeare’s canon, Measure for Measure is one of the more hotly contested works. Rife with moral ambiguities, deception, and silent women, Measure for Measure perpetually leaves audiences and scholars alike perplexed. House + Body’s production, helmed by Christopher Manousos, visually and textually highlights these ambiguities and takes them to new heights in this thought provoking production.

The Studio Theatre at Streetcar Crowsnest has been entirely transformed for Measure for Measure: currently in a theatre in the round configuration, the closeness that one already feels in the space is amplified as you see not only the characters on stage but your fellow audience members clearly. Measure for Measure is about the grey spaces in life, the areas where there are no answers, which makes the stark black and white design of the set that much more exhilarating. Chris Malkowski’s lighting design gets a chance to really change the mood as the whole room shifts between colours as each scene changes. The walls and floors are completely white, as is the table which sits centre stage. Everything on these tables is either black or white, with the occasional silver chain. Aside from the lighting, the only colour which exists in the physical environment is blue: Angelo’s jacket, along with the duke’s hat and shirt are blue. These elements juxtapose the rest of the design so starkly – a clear and visible show of who has the power in this play. The predominantly monochromatic environment matches the mentality of the characters, though throughout the play that mode of thinking is proven to be difficult in practice.

When the characters enter, we learn that they’re recording a live audio drama version of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. There’s a couple who run the studio and produce the show, a smooth host/narrator, and a regular actor on the show. Their other usual gal couldn’t make it, so they’ve hired a replacement who’s going to be playing the lead female role: Isabella. However, the tensions in the room begin to change as the two women clearly know each other, though we don’t know how, and a startling revelation just prior to intermission makes the second act all the more interesting.

For those who might not be familiar, let me give you a tiny rundown of Measure for Measure. The Duke is feeling stagnant and like he’s not getting enough respect, so he decides to leave his city for a while and leaves Angelo, a stalwart and righteous man, in charge. However, the Duke doesn’t actually leave, but disguises himself as a friar to be able to be on the streets incognito. Claudio has gotten his partner Juliet pregnant, though they’re technically not married, they intend to. Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue, but Angelo follows the letter of the law and wants to see him hanged for it. Claudio asks his sister, Isabella, to help him. Isabella is just about to take her vows at a nunnery when word arrives, and so she ventures off to plead with Angelo. Taken by her beauty, Angelo decides that he will save Claudio if Isabella sleeps with him. She refuses, but a friar (the duke) says that he can help, and that he has a way to help Isabella, her brother, and a young lady wronged long ago by Angelo. After a bed trick, a severed head, and the reveal of the duke, Claudio and Juliet are fine, Isabella has kept her chastity, and Angelo is married to Marianna whom he should have married 5 years prior.

The odd thing is that at the end of the play, the Duke asks Isabella to marry him. He claims that through this ordeal he’s fallen in love with her and now wants to marry her. Yet we get no answer from Isabella; the play ends with the Duke’s proposal and that’s all. And to my pure delight this production not only ends the same way, but the frame narrative continues the motif of the silent woman as well. The actress who was playing Isabella is asked by the producers if she’d like to work with them on a future project, and before she answers the lights go out and the play is done. This perfect parallel is fantastic as it’s the part of Measure for Measure which is the most cause for debate and I love that this production not only didn’t provide an answer for Isabella, but didn’t provide an answer for the actress, either.

Beck Lloyd shines as Isabella. Lloyd gives a nuanced and profound performance; this is yet another example of her excellence with Shakespearean text. Sébastien Heins plays opposite Lloyd as Angelo. Heins’ charisma and ferocity make him perfect for the role. Danté Prince navigates his multiple characters with ease, even when two of them are talking to one another. His physicality and suave nature are a welcome respite from the tension in the room otherwise. Jamie Cavanagh’s Duke is delightfully deceptive, yet there’s a sincerity in his Duke which I truly enjoyed; he was legitimately dismayed at how Claudio was treated and therefore all the more excited when he had the answers to the issues at hand. Katherine Gauthier is the true master of disguise for this production, however. I think my favourite of the many characters she embodies is Mistress Overdone: she gave her a Jennifer Coolidge style affectation to her voice, and it fit the character so perfectly that I’d be giggling preemptively before she spoke. I marvel at the sheer force of talent assembled for this production; from doing the foley art to multiple characters each, to their clear understanding and mastery of the language, they make this Shakespeare scholar very happy.

Measure for Measure is a complicated and messy play; none of the characters are feeling particularly happy at the end and so it’s hard for us to as well. This production delves into all of that uncertainty and plays with it, giving us the opportunity to understand that not every play is going to wrap up nicely with a little bow. Though it’s currently slated for a short run, I’m hoping that we can see a remount in the near future.

Measure for Measure runs in the Studio Theatre at Streetcar Crowsnest until March 16. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.crowstheatre.com/whats-on/view-all/measure-for-measure

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Cover Photo: Beck Lloyd. Photo by Kendra Epik

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