VIEWPOINTS – Is it even Shakespeare anymore?: Contemplating the current productions of MEASURE FOR MEASURE and AS YOU LIKE IT

This fall has brought us two highly anticipated Off-Broadway Shakespeare productions, As You Like It at Classic Stage Company and Measure for Measure at the Public Theater. However, seeing both made me wonder, how much real Shakespeare is in Shakespeare these days? As playful and witty as these productions are, it seems to me their success primarily lies with how their directors’ have bent Shakespeare’s texts to fit their own respective visions. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for derivative or “remixed” theater. I’m just musing on this noticeable need in contemporary theater-making to reshape the Bard. Maybe we’re experiencing Shakespeare overload – in a world increasingly saturated with productions of his plays (indeed, the last few months alone have included two major productions each of As You Like It, as well as Measure for Measure), how does each differentiate itself and justify its existence?

Ellen Burstyn and Hannah Cabell in John Doyle's "As You Like It" at Classic Stage Company.

Ellen Burstyn and Hannah Cabell in John Doyle’s “As You Like It” at Classic Stage Company.

Director John Doyle (in his first full season as artistic director of Classic Stage Company) has made a name for himself for stripping down his revivals – both in production and text – to get to the beating heart of his projects. The best example of this is perhaps his recent work on the once muddled musical adaptation of The Color Purple, which he turned into a glorious, transcendent experience.  To a lesser degree, this approach works for his current warm-hearted As You Like it (RECOMMENDED) for CSC (which features inspired work from Hannah Cabell and Quincy Tyler Berstine as Rosalind and Celia, as well as the welcome return to the stage of the great Ellen Burstyn). But at a brisk 100 minutes without an intermission and substantial musical contributions by Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz, how much Shakespeare is really left in the production? Not very much. In fact, this As You Like It, one of the Bard’s more popular comedies, is probably more Mr. Doyle’s creation than it is Shakespeare’s. At least this summer’s joyous Public Works production of As You Like It at the Delacorte prefaced the production as a musical adaptation.

Elevator Repair Service's production of "Measure for Measure" at the Public Theater.

Elevator Repair Service’s production of “Measure for Measure” at the Public Theater.

Further downtown at the Public Theater, you’ll find playing Measure for Measure (RECOMMENDED), a play that has experienced increased popularity of late, especially in our troubled times (the last major staging was Theatre for a New Audience’s version just this past June). Unlike Mr. Doyle’s As You Like It, this audacious Elevator Repair Serivce production contains essentially the entirety of Shakespeare’s text. Here’s the thing though, this version is a triply, hyperactive take – to say the least – that speeds through the text like a speeding bullet, particularly stretches of text that the company deems unimportant. Theatrically, I thought this brash, self-aware approach to be fresh and tons of fun, particularly for those who are familiar with the play, even if does poke fun at the play than provoke with the play’s unsettling underlying themes. Those unfamiliar with this lesser-known entry in the Shakespearean canon will leave the the Public scratching their heads, as many did at the performance I attended. Surely, this inside joke of a production is not what the Bard had in his mind when he penned the play. Is he rolling in his grave?

 

John Doyle’s AS YOU LIKE IT
Off-Broadway, Play
Classic Stage Company
1 hour, 40 minutes (without an intermission)
Through October 22

Elevator Repair Service’s MEASURE FOR MEASURE
Off-Broadway, Play
The Public Theater
2 hours, 10 minutes (without an intermission)
Through November 12th

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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