Who will believe a woman?
“Who will believe thee, a woman? My unsoiled name, ….my place in the state…”
Footloose inspired Measure for Measure holds a message much deeper than dancing! Used as a replacement for society’s loss of morals, dancing and dance clubs take on a new identity.
This story of sexual harassment, coercion and hypocrisy reaches darkly absurdist new heights in this footloose adaptation. The battle against long ignored morality laws forces a confrontation between an appointed replacement authoritarian ruler and a woman who is begging for her lover’s life. When she challenges him with a revelation of his true actions, he answers with the above quote, still used today to intimidate, blackmail and frighten someone from revealing the truth to the world!
Who will believe a woman? Especially against a powerful man!
Christopher Gaze, Bard on the Beach Artistic Director opined, “At Bard on the Beach we have a history of adapting Shakespeare’s work and putting a contemporary spin on it. New visions to the works of Shakespeare is always a challenge and when we were approached by director, Jivresh Parasham, we approved.”
This production of Measure for Measure is set in the party city of Vienna, the city of sin, where residents will never find an empty dance floor and the Governor is party animal Duke Vincenzio. However, when long-ignored morality laws must be enforced, party boy Duke Vincentio flees, handing the Governorship to the decidedly anti-sinner Angelo.
No (pre-marital) dancing is the decree. The Duke stays in Vienna disguised as a friar, as Angelo enforces the laws, sentencing young Claudio to death for dancing. Claudio’s sister Isabella, a noviciate nun, pleads with Angelo, who demands she dance with him to save her brother. She refuses but the Duke, wishing to save Claudio, and punish Angelo, suggests a plan involving Angelo’s ex-fiancée, Mariana.
The fabulous cast in Measure for Measure frequently plays multiple roles seamlessly. Scott Bellis, Meaghan Chenosky, Tess Degenstein, Leslie Dos Remedios, Craig Erickson, Karthik Kadam, Jeremy Lewis, Emma Houghton, Tal Shulman, Jacob Wolke, and Synthia Yusuf.
Set Designer Ryan Cormack has created a set of the party city of Vienna that shares adeptly with an ancient Greek marketplace for A Comedy of Errors. Audience will enter a night world of Vienna filled with neon lighting passageways and alleys and then a convent and jail.
Costume Designer Alaia Hammer has created colourful costumes paying homage to the underground music culture from the late 70s to 2000s. Fluorescent colours bounce against animal prints and reflect shiny fabrics and helmets as head covers.
Chris Ross-Ewart (Sound Designer and Composer) is embracing Vienna’s party reputation choosing music that encourages people to get up and dance, though illegal!
Additional members of Measure for Measure’s production team include Hina Nishioka(Lighting Designer), Sam Jeffery (Fight Director), Krystal Kiran (Choreographer), Lisa Goebel(Intimacy Director), Alana Hawley Purvis (Voice Coach) and Heidi Wilkinson (Head of Props). They are supported by Rebecca Mulvihill (Production Stage Manager), Jenny Kim (Assistant Stage Manager) and Julia Lank (Apprentice Stage Manager)
This is a thoughtful comedy that takes a deeper more modern look at the rules and morals of society. Jivesh Parasram has adapted a play that prevents sexual assault from occurring on the stage but gets the message of the problem across to the audience through forbidden dance. Consent and power are used, coercion and blackmail become the issues hidden by the comedic lines. Modern jokes about reading it on a magnet, and using GoldBond to prevent rash are dropped. Slow motion sequences help the change the pace.
But when the protagonist challenges the victim with “Who will believe you?” the barb hits the audience and removes the fun and adapts Shakespeare to the more modern setting.
Measure for Measure shows at Howard Stage at Bard on the Beach through to September 20, 2024.
