"Measure for Measure" (Impact, Berkeley)

Impact Theater’s production of Measure for Measure in Berkeley (April 20 through May 26) asks the question: what happens when authority attempts to “own” human sexuality? The issue seems particularly relevant in the light of contemporary attempts by the Christian right to codify and limit sexuality according to a narrow set of rules. “Measure” opens on a suitably contemporary note – loud techno music, Playboy magazines, a bottle of Guinness. In this play’s world, sexuality and the ownership of it are just as relevant today as they were during the reign of the “Virgin” Queen (whose virginity was itself more a political construct than a question of personal choice) - perhaps more so, since we are supposedly “free” to do what we like. The production’s politics, aptly for a play staged in Berkeley, are very anti-authoritarian, and one of the ways, it seems to be saying, that totalitarian ideas or institutions seek to consolidate their power is through the “ownership” and regulation of sexuality. And we are made to feel that this is much more dangerous than it might seem.

In Measure, such a threat is examined through the characters of Angelo and Isabella. They are individuals, but both are also clearly representatives of certain kinds of totalitarianism. Angelo (Cole Alexander Smith), wears a military uniform, the edges pressed to razor-like sharpness, and sports a close-cropped jarhead haircut. Smith’s portrayal is nuanced, bringing fully alive to the audience Angelo’s inner conflict as he desires Isabella (Marissa Keltie), yet hates himself for desiring her. Her modesty is the very quality that most arouses his lust. From time to time, this Angelo swallows pills to calm his turbulent feelings and maintain his self-contained, rule-bound military façade. His self-hatred and writhing helplessness in the face of his uncontrollable desire is thrown into sharp focus by his desperate need to hide his transgression, and his even more desperate desire, as his eyes scan the audience, to share it with another human soul. This Angelo is truly schizophrenic, and the final twist of the play, added by director Melissa Hillman, who was not satisfied with the conventional ending of the original, highlights how much this production seeks to present Angelo as a tragic hero.

Isabella, the object of Angelo’s futile desire, is the result of the religious institutionalization of sexuality, of which also this production evidently intends a powerful critique. Marissa Keltie is virginal in a white nun’s habit, but is soon revealed as a narrow-minded egotist who is as obsessed with her own moral superiority as Angelo with his role as enforcer of justice. She rages when Claudio begs for his life at the cost of her virginity, shoving him aside and hissing venom into his face. In Hillman’s Measure, Isabella is just as much of a fanatic as Angelo, but with her there is no trace of the inner conflict that complicates and enlivens the male character.

But the highlight of the play is undoubtedly Jeremy Forbing’s performance as Lucio. Since the Duke (Ted Barker) is (tellingly) blind in his disguise as Justice Incognito, Lucio thinks it safe to perform outrageously obscene capers in front of the Friar, yet clearly he is the only one who really feels sorry for Claudio’s impending fate. In fact, Lucio provides the closest thing in this play’s world to a moral center: he is capable of compassion and forgiveness. Angelo has degenerated into a tyrant; Isabella is prudish and sanctimonious, Claudio (Daniel Duque-Estrada) and Julieta (Dana Lau) are little more than victims caught unprepared, Mariana is loving but misguided in her blind devotion to Angelo, and even the Duke appears as an ineffective ruler whose schemes do not have the effect he had anticipated.

Impact’s “Measure” gently, and with laughter, reminds us of that quality of mercy that cannot be measured, either in the military rulebook or by religious dogma. In a world torn by both, the suggestion cannot but be a compelling one.