Murphys, CA…Summertime is Shakespeare time in Murphys, CA! Opening June 24th and running through July 17th on Fridays at 7, Saturdays at 7 and Sundays at 2 at the Black Bart Playhouse at 580 S Algiers Street Murphys, CA, Murphys Creek Theatre presents its summer performance of Measure for Measure. Never before produced by MCT, this is Shakespeare’s story of how power and influence, good intentions and bad planning, righteousness and hypocrisy affected the political elite of his time…..

Sound familiar?

What could be more timely than the story of Duke Vincentio, who finds himself struggling with ruling a city that has grown accustomed to using the law as a doormat? He hires a strong man, Angelo, who is known to rule with an iron fist. When a well liked citizen, Claudio, breaks a small law that nearly everyone in town also breaks routinely, Angelo decides to make an example of him. But Angelo, it turns out, is not as pious as he claims to be, and suddenly this upstanding citizen pointing all the fingers has fingers pointing back at him.

Director Raquel Ruelas says:

“Measure for Measure is such a brilliant piece of work. It is often cited as a “problem play” since it has many inconsistencies and jarring sentence structure as well as ambiguity with a genre. From my perspective, this is the opposite of a problem and more of an opportunity. The concept for this piece is playing off of the polarity of human nature and how life and human behavior expresses so many inconsistencies. The humorous moments during serious scenes are beautiful irony, and the convoluted sentence structure and vocabulary are expressive of the complexity of the human mind. This story emphasizes the extremity of character, personal struggle, views of morality and how it affects human action and interaction. Set in Italy to give it grounding with the Italian names and religious themes, the time period is ambiguous to give focus to the characters, their relationships and how they present timeless struggles.”

This dynamic cast includes Andrew Sutherland as Angelo, Graham Green as Duke Vincentio, Emily Kentta as Isabella, Forrest Lark as Lucio, Sara Garcia as Mariana, Overdone and Juliet; David Garcia as Claudio, Travis Blansit as Pompey, Carl Bengston as Escalus, and John Baker as Friar and Provost. With actors traveling from Sacramento, Modesto and Turlock to join local talent from Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties, this show is sure to provide a top quality Shakespeare experience.

In their own words:

Sara Garcia: Mistress Overdone, Julietta, Mariana

Although the three roles I have are small, it has been a great learning experience to play them because they are all distinctly different. Having such a short window of time to display those three characters in a way that doesn’t confuse the audience is a challenge I’m looking forward to take on.

David Garcia: Claudio

Claudio is just a man that was plucked out of many whom have committed the same crime. The law means to make an example of him and put him to death. The happiness and love of a new family is obscured by his detention and imminent execution

Travis Blansit: Pompey

Pompeyis a lower status character that is accused of being a bawd or a pimp nowadays. Being the “clown” of the play, Pompey uses his wit to try and escape from being arrested for his practices. It is successful the first time, but not the second time.

Carl Bengston: Escalus

Escalus is the Duke’s right-hand man and will do his bidding, no matter what task. The three words that describe him best are loyal, fair, and wise.

Forrest Lark: Lucio

Lucio is a fantastical, flamboyant bachelor & a regular at the bawd-house. Though he is a loyal friend of Claudio, his gossiping and immature demeanor will prove trouble for him.

Andrew Sutherland: Angelo

Angelo: He isn’t, he can’t be, a mustache twirling villain. What is the fun in that? He really is the personification of “absolute power corrupting absolutely”. Machiavelli threw the idea of the chivalric code out, but Shakespeare gave us personifications of it with folks like Iago and (to a lesser extent) Angelo.
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John Baker: Friar Thomas, Provost, Bernardine

It seems to me that Friar Thomas is somewhat bored with simple monastic life and is thrilled to be swept up into the intrigue of this long con with the Duke.

The Provost, being the jail keeper is pretty jaded at this point in his career. He’s just as fed up with the criminals that populate his jail as he is with the lackadaisical way in which the law has been enforced up to this point. To make matters worse he views Angelo’s abrupt declarations to be a gross over correction and sees Claudio’s plight as a travesty. He is at the end of his tether.

Barnardine is a product of a lax justice system. As one who had languished in prison for nine years with a readily available supply of grog he has no respect for authority and no fear of death.