by William Shakespeare
New York University | Gallatin School | 2011
About the Production:
Like the words that construct the play, the world of Measure is full of ambiguity and double meaning. One of Shakespeare’s most problematic and complex plays, Measure is filled with dense language that is often hard to pin down. It’s in these places of ambiguity and complexity that we find our ways as actors and directors. Words tell us how characters think, construct their worldviews and make meaning. Words knock up against each other as they are used or misused purposefully. The Constable Elbow can’t seem to get his words right when he accuses Master Froth of insulting his wife; in this scene Shakespeare tells us something about how to listen to the rest of the play and participate in its game. The scenes that follow between Isabella and Angelo are filled with double meaning. They may use the same language, but they mean very different things.
Nothing is what it seems in Shakespeare’s Vienna - characters change places, appear or reappear in disguise and bodies, both dead and alive, are switched. As a way to further investigate the relationship between seeming and being the production featured an all-female cast of Gallatin students and recent alumnae as well as purposeful double casting of many parts.