Measure for Measure presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company at Michael R. Klein Theatre

Measure for Measure

Michael R. Klein Theatre
450 7th Street NW Washington

When the Duke of Vienna takes a leave of absence and hands his power over to the iron-fisted Angelo, a new regime begins which brings the very definitions of vice and virtue into question. Measure for Measure centers on the terrible choice asked of Isabella, a novice nun, by the hypocritical Angelo as he tries to cleanse the city of its impurities. Isabella must decide whether to sacrifice her virginity to Angelo to save her brother Claudio's life, or to remain virtuous and allow him to be killed. The Duke, who returns incognito to Vienna, must also decide how to resume governance of an unruly state.

Presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company

Thru - Oct 27, 2013

Tuesdays: 7:30pm

Wednesdays: 7:30pm

Thursdays: 8:00pm

Fridays: 8:00pm

Saturdays: 2:00pm & 8:00pm

Sundays: 2:00pm & 7:30pm

Price: $40-$100

Show Type: Drama

Running Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes with 1 intermission

Buy Tickets

Michael R. Klein Theatre Seating Chart

Nearby Restaurants

Measure for Measure Reviews

Average Rating based on 8 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Somewhat Recommended

"...Still, something is lacking when the emotional transaction that feels most completely inhabited is the one between Mariana, a secondary character suffused here with extraordinary presence and feeling by Natascia Diaz, and Angelo, the uptight sexual hypocrite who is disastrously left in charge in Vienna by the inscrutable duke."

Read Full Review

- Peter Marks

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...Director Jonathan Munby has set his fabulous new staging of Measure for Measure in a fanciful 1930s, pre-war Vienna. But it could as well be taking place in any society where the prevailing moral barometer has found some extra wiggle room."

Read Full Review

- John Harding

MetroWeekly - Highly Recommended

"...And Munby gives us one thing more. Dancing the cabaret, making up its waiters and audience and then playing the extras throughout, the ensemble here does more than just support the action. Whether as onlookers, paid performers, victims or witnesses to the hypocrisies of their world, each as easily as any Claudio or Isabella, is vulnerable to being singled out. Munby offers not just a faceless, nameless ensemble. Though they may be decades younger, fitter and prettier, they are us."

Read Full Review

- Kate Wingfield

Talkin Broadway - Recommended

"...Measure for Measure is famously described as one of William Shakespeare's "problem plays," but its consideration of the tangled interplay among sex, justice, and politics means that it remains eternally timely. Director Jonathan Munby has created a thoughtful and vivid production for Washington's Shakespeare Theatre Company that presents the parallels to contemporary life without belaboring them."

Read Full Review

- Susan Berlin

Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended

"...You could argue, and some scholar probably has, that Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure never found its ideal shape—but then plays written for a king, about a king, to be performed in front of a king, sometimes require a compromise or three. That’s one argument advanced, in any case, for why this problematic drama of license and limits goes all lickspittle at the end."

Read Full Review

- Trey Graham

Washingtonian - Recommended

"...Still, the show draws most of its strength from flawless performances, particularly by Parkinson as the inappropriately named Angelo. A volte-face such as his can either explain itself through rank hypocrisy or temporary insanity, and Parkinson seems to opt for the latter, portraying his Angelo as falling under the influence of feverish dreams about the chaste Isabella. He repeatedly grabs his crotch then shakes his hand away with disgust, and in one scene is downright terrifying as he tries to force himself on a screaming Isabella."

Read Full Review

- Sophie Gilbert

MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended

"...Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Measure for Measure—like almost all STC shows—is a lavishly beautiful show. The production values dazzled. Set designer Alexander Dodge has created a glorious and delightfully low-tech maze of rolling panels that the ensemble twirls into multiple configurations of a prison, a monastery, a convent. From above grand black and red striped National Socialist-esque banners descend to create the political settings, a huge burgundy draped velvet backdrop instantly creates the steamily luxuriant cabaret. Behind it all are these marvelously peeling giant gray walls—bravo to the team that created those."

Read Full Review

- Elizabeth Bruce

DCTheatreScene - Recommended

Measure for Measure is not a play that deals in easy answers, but Jonathan Munby’s new production at the Shakespeare Theatre makes no problem of losing yourself in a night of spectacle. When a pair of strippers in nun’s habits open their robes and spin their tasseled breasts, it’s hard to think about your groceries.

Read Full Review

- J. Robert Williams

Measure for Measure presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company at Michael R. Klein Theatre