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Reviewed by:
  • Measure for Measure, Ferraraand Measure for Measure, Vienna
  • Trish Thomas Henley
Measure for Measure, Ferrara andMeasure for Measure, ViennaPresented by Hoosier Bard Productions at IndyFringe Basile Theatre, Indianapolis, Indiana. Ferrara, 02 2123, 2013 and Vienna, 02 28–03 2, 2013. Directed by Terri Bourus. Costume Design by Rebekah Taylor Foster. Set by Stephen Hamori. Produced by Gary Taylor. Dramaturgy by Gary Taylor. Verse Coaching by Christopher Marino. Vocal Direction by Andrew Morales. Music by Al Hoffmann. With Lauren Briggeman (Isabella), Thomas Cardwell (Lucio), Jaddy Ciucci (Mariana), Aaron Cleveland [End Page 499](Provost), Alexandra Hudson (Juliet), Aaron Moon (Pompey, Vienna), David Mosedale (Duke Vincentio), Scott Russell (Claudio), Benjamin Schuetz (Pompey, Ferrara), Autumn Sutton (Mistress Overdone), Tyrone Van Tatenhove (Angelo), Bill Wilkison (Escalus), Jonah Winston (Elbow) and others.

Measure for Measureis, without question, one of Shakespeare’s most problematic plays. Frequently called a “problem comedy,” it contains both textual and performative cruxes that have puzzled directors, actors, and scholars alike. One possible explanation for these incongruities lies in the play’s textual and production history. Measurewas first written and performed in 1603–4 and later revived by the King’s Men, probably in 1621. The only surviving version of Measureis the 1623 First Folio text. Textual analysis suggests that our one surviving copy is based upon a posthumous revival, for which the text was adapted by the playwright Thomas Middleton. (For a breakdown of the dating evidence and Thomas Middleton’s involvement, please see John Jowett’s introduction to Measure for Measurein The Collected Works of Thomas Middleton[Oxford: OUP, 2007] and John Jowett and Gary Taylor’s “‘With New Additions’: Theatrical Interpolation in Measure for Measure” in Shakespeare Reshaped: 1606–1623[Oxford: OUP, 1993].) The presence of two hands, representing playwrights with vastly different political and aesthetic sensibilities, creates a playtext that at times feels schizophrenic: a text that pulls against itself and seems to unravel any attempt at moral certainty. It also leaves us to wonder what the play might have been like before Middleton’s adaptation.

Hoosier Bard’s two performances of Measureattempted to answer this question. Hoosier Bard is the “theatrical arm” of the New Oxford Shakespeare Center at IUPUI in Indianapolis. Since its inception in 2010, Hoosier Bard’s productions have put theatrical research on its feet, staging the early quarto version of Hamlet; a reconstruction of Shakespeare’s lost play, Cardenio; and these two back-to-back versions of Measure. Hoosier Bard differentiated the two productions by referring to the first as Ferraraand the second as Vienna. The Ferraraproduction’s playtext, based on Jowett and Taylor’s research, attempted to excise the hand of Middleton, while the Viennastaging presented the text as it stands in the First Folio. The setting changes were based on Jowett and Taylor’s supposition that Middleton changed the setting from Ferrara to Vienna ( Collected Works1544). (To read these playtexts side-by-side, see the Collected Middleton’s version of Measure, where text believed to have been deleted by Middleton is produced in grey and text believed to have been added by him is [End Page 500]printed in bold. All citations from Measurein this review are taken from these texts.)

The two productions retained the same cast (with the exception of Pompey, in whose case a family emergency necessitated a casting change) and staged the two versions on back-to-back weekends. This allowed spectators who experienced both the opportunity immediately to compare and contrast the differences in the emotional and moral impact of the two versions. Such differences were noticeable. Surprisingly, they emerged not simply through changes made to the leading parts, but also through both performative and textual shifts in the supporting characters’ roles.

In the Ferraraproduction, David Mosedale played a wise and judicious Duke. This Duke was very much in keeping with the Duke from Shakespeare’s source text, Promos and Cassandra. The Duke’s justice appeared benevolent and all-knowing. Throughout this production, Mosedale’s Duke watched, listened, and then worked to right wrongs. By the play’s end, Ferrara’s moral disorder had been corrected, with all characters eventually...

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