November 8–14, 2019 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 AWP 7
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More girl problems
All-women cast takes on ‘Measure for Measure’
Center stage: (Above) The Public’s
all-women production of
“Measure for Measure,” shown
performing in a gymnasium, uses
costumes and masks to evoke the
lawless feeling of New Orleans
in the 1970s. (Left) The show,
which features a cast of African-
American women, will stop at the
Weeksville Heritage Center on
Nov. 16.
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By Bill Roundy
Brooklyn Paper
They’re taking the Measure of a
man!
An all-female, all-black cast is
taking one of Shakespeare’s so-called
“problem plays” on a tour of the five
boroughs, visiting community centers,
shelters, prisons, and other spots that
rarely see live theater. The all–women
of color production of “Measure for
Measure,” stopping next in Brooklyn
at the Weeksville Heritage Center on
Nov. 16, offers a uniquely clear-eyed
look at the Bard’s tale of sexual harassment
and abuse of power, said its
director.
“I think by having an all-female cast,
it gives us the opportunity to look at it
from the perspective of these women,”
said LA Williams, director the Public
Theater’s Mobile Unit show.
“We’re no strangers to patriarchy
and misogyny, but to see what that
looks like through their eyes — to see
them embody these characters and show
their experience of it. The audience —
the male audience — are really having
a chance to see it in a new way,”
he said.
The play focuses on a corrupt judge,
Angelo, who threatens to execute the
brother of a young nun unless she agrees
to have sex with him. Many male actors
try to find Angelo’s softer side, said
Williams, but the women in this play
are ready to show him as a straightup
villain.
“By having women play these characters
— especially these bad characters
— we tap into the truth and ugliness of
these characters much quicker,” he said.
“They’re only interested in the truth,
and the craziness and the violence,
rather than trying to soften it.”
“Measure for Measure” takes places
in a lawless city, and this production is
set in New Orleans in 1979 — a year
when Mardi Gras was cancelled due to
a police strike, noted Williams.
The setting is conveyed through second
line music, dancing, and masquerade
outfits, he said giving the show
a fun, free-wheeling vibe during its
lighter scenes. The setting also seemed
appropriate for the traveling show, since
the people of New Orleans threw their
own parties in the absence of an official
parade.
“Although it was cancelled, they still
celebrated,” said Williams. “They took
to the streets, and the idea of performing
for themselves, and for their neighbors,
seemed right for us.”
The traveling show will perform
at several correctional facilities during
its run. There were some concerns
about how male prisoners would react
to a cast of women, said Williams,
but their experience has been entirely
positive.
“They completely understood the
commentary that we’re trying to make
on misogyny and patriarchy and abuse
of power. It’s been really, really, fascinating
to watch the audience get it,”
he said.
After the tour is complete, the production
will settle at the Public Theater
in Manhattan for a three-week run,
starting on Nov. 18.
“Measure for Measure” at Weeksville
Heritage Center 158 Buffalo Ave.
at St. Marks Avenue in Brownsville,
(718) 756–5250, www.weeksvillesociety.
org. Nov. 16 at 2 pm. Free.
Joan Marcus
Christine Jean Chambers
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