Measure
for Measure deals a lot with the thoughts of characters on virtue as well
as the contrasts between virtue and sin. It is agreed for the most part that
the play is a problem play, ending in a conclusion that does not make sense
with the characters in it. As it is, this was a very strange interpretation of the
play, Measure for Measure. When I was
reading the play, I did not see the interpretations of the characters the same
way they were portrayed by the company. I also expected the characters and play
to be different than it was because of the description in the program which seemed
to indicate that this version was inspired by Moulin Rouge and Burlesque.
However, I did think that the ending created a better explanation for what the
characters were supposed to represent. The representation of the characters in
this production are important as they contrast with my own reading and what they
seem to be indicating in the script.
The characters in this production
were more extreme in how they acted than the script seemed to indicate. For example,
Lord Angelo was actually scary in this production, or at least he scared me. He
was much more violent than my reading of the script made him. Yet, I am loathe
to say that the script did not intend to make him violent and scary, as I tend
to see the good and better in characters whereas others look for bad. The actor
playing Angelo made the indication of physical violence a very real danger when
Angelo is asking Isabella to give up her virginity to save her brother’s life.
This seemed more aggressive than the reading seemed to indicate. I read that he
was creepy and the character made me uncomfortable, but the real danger of physicality
did not come across, but in the production. Yet, Angelo was not the only
character that seemed to go to an extreme with portrayal. Lucio was much lewder
and nastier than I seemed to read him. Indeed, in the script Lucio was mischievous
and received no sympathy for his plight, but this production made his
personality extreme. These two were the most easily to distinguish in their portrayals,
ass to me they held the most significant difference to the script. Yet, even
with these extremes, the ending of the play fit better the characters than the
script.
The introduction of music helped
the ending of the play as well as the overall plotline. The song fit well with
the plot and really introduced the issues between the characters. This was an
interesting choice, especially since the scene that establishes Isabella’s
character, the one with her talking to a nun about joining the convent was
removed. This seemed a strange choice to me, because this helped establish
Isabella’s character as one of piety and virtue. However, the play kept her in
the nun’s habit and with a face clean of clown make-up it was not hard to
distinguish her as one of innocence and purity in contrast to the rest. In
addition, the song really helped establish the issues plaguing Vienna as well
as the characters themselves. However, the song was the most useful at the end.
The play ends in a weird place where the Duke asks Isabella to marry him, but
she makes no response. The actors playing the Duke and Isabella froze as the
song was sung. The one line dealt with the Duke being a hypocrite, wanting to
punish people for issues dealing with children out of wedlock and taking away a
maid’s virginity. This was powerful because it really stuck home the ending of
the play in that it was incredibly strange for the Duke to ask Isabella to
marry him. First, they had not spent barely any time together and when they did,
it was when the Duke was dressed as a friar, hence making their relationship
purely platonic. This is what made it strange for him to randomly request her hand
at the end, especially concerning his idea of corruption in the beginning of
the play and his way of dealing with Angelo after his return. So, while the
play made the characters more extreme portrayals on their individual spectrums,
it also resolved, at least partially, an ending that makes no sense in the
original script.
No comments:
Post a Comment