Arizona State University Department of Theatre's Measure for Measure at The Galvin Playhouse
(out of 
)Mark S.P. Turvin
(home office) (602) 912-0117
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@goldfishpublishers.com
Reviewed 2/26/00
(out of )They say the second time is always easier, and for me, that was true. In the six seasons that I have been reviewing, I have only left a show before it was over twice, and last night was the second time. The guilt I struggled with the first time was curiously missing as I fled from ASU's Galvin Playhouse and the cruel joke mounted by the Department of Theatre claiming to be William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure.
In all fairness, it may very well have been that script being "performed," but only one actor on the stage (Greg London) comprehended the words DICTION and PROJECTION to confirm this fact for me. I only knew the name of Mr. London because I had loved him in last year's bad ASU Shakespeare production. Due to a problem at ASU's print shop, there were no programs available to audience, reviewers, or ariZoni adjudicators allowing them the chance to properly lay the enormous blame or offer the woefully scant praise for this production.
I do know that Director Beverly Smith Dawson played the usual game of setting-bending that has become a standard practice for Shakespeare, something I ordinarily enjoy. Inexplicably, though, she moved the locale to modern day Mardi Gras N'awleans, where, it seems, the Napoleonic Code of Justice that rules their court system includes beheadings. Therefore, not only did the audience have inconsistent diction and projection to contend with, but horrific Cajun accents that further muddied the waters. (From here on in, I can only apologize for not knowing actor names for lack of said program). There was some potential for this shift of locale to be an interesting choice, as an African American actor portrays Claudio, the man condemned to death for improper impregnation of Juliet, played by a white woman. Of course, Ms. Dawson then cast a white actress to play Claudio's virtuous sister, Isabella, so any chance of making a racial point disappeared into the murkiness once more.
For the second time this month, I had to apologize to out-of-state visitors, insisting that the theatre piece I had brought them to was not an example of what Arizona theatre has to offer. Luck just hasn't been on my side this February.
And so, we bolted the theatre, along with a few other wise captives from the remarkably unresponsive audience. We sat at a café, wondering if the director had had her heart set on presenting Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and headed for Williams-on-Avon during Mardi Bard to show off her Duke Big Daddy. We second-guessed the set designer's choice of putting an outdoor bar, where some of the action takes place, out of view of a third of the audience. We echoed Isabella's lament, "To Whom Should I Complain?" But most of all, we questioned if the Theatre Department at ASU cares that they are turning out rigid method actors who cannot act their way out of an iambic pentameter.
Production Details:
Measure for Measure by William
Shakespeare
ASU Department of Theatre
The Galvin Playhouse, Tempe
(480) 965-6647
February 25th - March 12th, 2000