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Girl problems
All- women cast takes on ‘Measure for Measure’
Center stage: The Public’s all-women production of “Measure for Measure,” shown performing in a gymnasium, will come to the Weeksville Heritage Center on Nov. 16. Joan Marcus
COURIER LIFE, NOVEMBER 8-14, 2019 47
TBy Bill Roundy hey’re taking the Measure
of a man!
An all-female, allblack
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 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 allfemale
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 male
audience are really having a
chance to see it in a new way.”
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
straight-up 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, freewheeling
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.
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