The Bards Ablaze Theatre Collective, the MFA company from the Mary Baldwin Shakespeare and Performance program, presents Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure in a five-person touring production designed to tour around Virginia and the surrounding areas.
Measure for Measure is a story that seems to jump right out of today’s headlines: the Duke of Vienna, fed up with the duties of ruling his city-state, skips town and leaves his authority to a deputy, Lord Angelo. Angelo begins to lay down the law more strictly than his predecessor, but his hypocrisy shines through when he meets Isabella, a soon-to-be nun, and Angelo tries to use his power and station to coerce Isabella into his bed. The Duke, disguised as a friar, catches wind of Angelo’s plot and hatches his own scheme to entrap Angelo and woo Isabella, leading to a dramatic conclusion that raises as many problems as it seems to fix.
This small-scale production runs for ninety minutes with only five actors playing all the parts. Watch the city of Vienna come to life as these actors shift between different personas and personalities. In a show where the same actor plays a devout worshiper and a whorehouse madame in back-to-back scenes, the audience will see how closely virtue and vice are intertwined.
Join Bards Ablaze for their opening performance of Measure for Measure on Saturday, December 1st and Monday, December 3rd at The Wharf, located at 19 W. Johnson St. (next to Pufferbellies) on the second floor. Both shows begin at 7:30.
Admission is Pay What You Will, and all donations go to help the Bards Ablaze throughout their 2018/19 season.
For more information on Measure for Measure including booking information, visit www.bardsablaze.com.
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