Rourke’s version [of Measure for Measure] has been severely pared down, so that it might be presented twice in an evening. Having been run through once before intermission, in period costume, it is played over again, in modern dress, with Isabella, in high heels and a shift dress, appointed as the temporary ruler and Angelo as a vulnerable enrollee in a rehab program.
The show was in rehearsals during the hearings for the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. “I told the actors, ‘I don’t care what you’re doing, get online and watch this hearing now,’ ” Rourke said. The first iteration of the play concludes with a devastating howl of rage by Isabella, who has just given her account of Angelo’s misdeeds to a court that is rigged to discount her autonomy. “It takes this extraordinary act of courage for Isabella to come and give this testimony—she does this huge thing, and they dismiss it,” Rourke said. Night after night, the audience gasped at the howl. To deliver it, Rourke noted bleakly, the actress playing Isabella, Hayley Atwell, does not have to dig deep emotionally.
Josie Rourke’s Shakespeare for the #MeToo Era
Published
bookworm-christina's 