Theater Reviews : Cast ‘Measures’ Up, Concept Doesn’t

Bobby Lewis, who co-founded the Actors Studio with Elia Kazan, says a director’s concept of a classic drama must emerge from the text and illuminate it. Too many directors, he says, paste a concept on a play with no thought as to how appropriate it may be.

And that’s the problem with director Dudley Knight’s “Measure for Measure,” in repertory at UC Irvine with an impressive production of “Hamlet” (see accompanying review).

Not that Knight’s is much of a concept.

The play, to begin with, is a cumbersome mix of comedy and drama concerning misuse of power, governmental fallibility, human frailty and the virtues of honesty and integrity. It is rarely performed, but with its mistaken identities and rapacious bawdiness, it can be entertaining in the right hands.

Knight, for the most part, has neglected the very script he is gilding. Those in the cast who succeed do so on their own hook as performers; the production itself is unshaped and unfocused.

John W. Gloria gives a fine, reserved performance as Lord Angelo, underscored with a subtle and very effective sense of bumbling evil. Hope Chernov’s convent novice Isabella, who abandons her vocation to save her wrongfully doomed brother Claudio, is well-defined, nicely balanced between gentle innocence and righteous fire. Anne James Dreiling makes a riot of the bawd, Mistress Overdone, and ably keeps herself in check at the first hint of being overdone.

Tom Humphreys is a stalwart and romantic Claudio, David Nevell is amusing and impressively constrained as Pompey and Jason Ades gets laughs with a properly bumbled Elbow. But Alexander Zubatov as the Duke, who vacations incognito to see how his rule is affecting the people, falls afoul of the friar the Duke pretends to be, with corny, cliched friar shtick and an accent that wanders from Ireland to Scotland to somewhere east of Java.

*

Knight’s concept includes projected photos as Pompey lists Mistress Overdone’s ex-customers now in jail: Master Rash is Billy the Kid, Master Caper is Michael Jackson, etc. As Pompey is himself dragged off to prison, Knight has him jumping into the audience with a bucket, announcing: “At this time of year we like to take up a collection for . . .”

And some of the supporting cast--including Colby French, whose performance as the executioner amounts to a bad Boris Karloff impression--should follow Ralph Richardson’s advice to young actors: “Look in the mirror and ask yourself if it’s human.”

The same technical people who make such a joy of “Hamlet” served this production but here nothing makes a match. Knight’s staging is cumbersome on the unit set; the lighting, with huge shadows on the side walls, is distracting, and the period tops worn by the men over their modern pants look like Bea Arthur’s caftans.

* “Measure for Measure,” Fine Arts Concert Hall, UC Irvine, Irvine. Tuesday and Thursday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m. Closes Saturday. $6-$14. (714) 856-6616. Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes. Alexander Zubatov: Duke Vincentio

John W. Gloria: Lord Angelo

Anne James Dreiling: Mistress Overdone

David Nevell: Pompey

Tom Humphreys: Claudio

Hope Chernov: Isabella

Jason Ades: Elbow

A UC Irvine Fine Arts Department production of Shakespeare’s comedy, directed by Dudley Knight. Scenic design: Julie Allardice. Costume design: Felicia Pam Libbin. Lighting design: Jason Kai Cooper. Dramaturge: Robert Weiman. Stage combat: Christopher Villa. Makeup/hair design: Joyce Littrell. Production stage manager: Michael McGoff.