New American Shakespeare Tavern Presents MEASURE FOR MEASURE, Now thru 9/29

Welcome to The Shakespeare Evolution Series! Now that New American Shakespeare Tavern has completed Shakespeare's entire canon, they're starting over by producing the plays in the order in which they were written. Last season the Tavern started with the comedies. The theatre will finish them in September 2012 and begin with the tragedies.

Measure for Measure (in repertory with All’s Well that Ends Well)
Directed by Artistic Director Jeff Watkins
$15 General Admission Previews Thurs Sept 6 & Fri Sept 7
Performances Tonight, September 8 and September 16, 21, 23, 27, 29, 2012

What could possibly go wrong when the Duke of Vienna decides to enforce a few long-ignorEd Morality laws...and then “skips town,” leaving his self-righteous deputy in charge to enforce the new moral order? What will the innocent Isabella stoop to in order to save her brother’s life? Written with absorbing strength and eloquence, Shakespeare weaves for you a tale of love, lust, justice and forgiveness that will, naturally, leave you laughing.

Join the cast and crew members for a lively Question and Answer session on Sunday September 16 after the show.

Dramatis Personae

Vincentio, The Duke Maurice Ralston*
Angelo Matt Nitchie
Escalus Doug Kaye*
Claudio Paul Hester*
Lucio Daniel Parvis
Isabella Mary Russell
Juliet – Janine DeMichele
Mariana Jennifer Alice Acker
Provost Troy Willis*
Elbow Matt Felten
Justice Paul Hester*
Froth BRyan Lee
Pompey, the clown Nicholas Faircloth
Abhorson Doug Kaye*
Barnardine Matt Felten
Friar Thomas Eli Jolley
Mistress Overdone Katie Wine
Sister Francesca Katie Wine
Two Gentlemen Matt Felten, BRyan Lee
Officers & Attendants BRyan Lee, Jennifer Alice Acker, Eli Jolley
Singing Boy BRyan Lee

*Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

SYNOPSIS (from The Pocket Companion to Shakespeare’s Plays by J C Trewin): "Vincentio, Duke of Vienna, resolving on the enforcement of the city’s ignoRed Laws against immorality, proclaims his departure to Poland; actually he remains, disguised as a friar, to see what his Deputy, the severe Angelo (whose “blood is very snow-broth”) will do. One of Angelo’s first acts is to imprison Claudio for getting his betrothed, Juliet, with child, an offence that carries the death penalty.

Isabella, Claudio’s sister, a potential novice in a religious order, comes to plead with Angelo and he invites her to return the next day. When she does he tells her that, if she will be his mistress, he will pardon her brother. Horrified, she visits her brother who entreats her to agree. She refuses; but the disguised Duke/Friar suggests that she give way, and that Mariana, once Angelo’s spurned love, take her place at night.

Mariana accepts the plan; Angelo, faithlessly, has ordered Claudio’s death which is prevented by the Duke/Friar and the Provost. The Duke returns as himself. In a complex scene Angelo, after compulsorily wedding Mariana, is pardoned, Claudio will marry Juliet, and the Duke confesses his own love for Isabella."_

Performance days & times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 PM, and Sundays at 6:30 PM. Ticket prices range from $15 to $36, depending on the section, night and whether it's a special performance. An 8 percent sales tax is added on top of all purchases made at The Shakespeare Tavern. Discount Ticket Options: $15 for Previews (unless otherwise noted); Student/Educator prices: $5 off per price level per night except in the Balcony on Thursdays and Sundays. Not valid on Saturday nights; $14 for 10am matinees; $3 off for Military, Seniors, Groups of 10 or more, except in the Balcony on Sundays. Promotional discount offers are not valid closing weekend of a performance. Purchase tickets online for most performances at www.shakespearetavern.com.

The New American Shakespeare Tavern is located at 499 Peachtree Street, NE, just four blocks south of The Fox Theater and directly across the street from Emory University Hospital Midtown.

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