New Life for a Classic

You’d never know it from the fast-moving, often witty production by Classics in the Park, but for the last nearly 400 years, “Measure for Measure” has been one of Shakespeare’s least popular plays. More than a century elapsed between the first and second recorded professional productions.

But one must wonder why after seeing this highly enjoyable version, cut to an easy-to-take 2 1/2 hours, by director Toni Frisk Jourdan..

For those who haven’t seen it--a group that evidently includes practically everybody--”Measure for Measure” begins when the Duke of Vienna (Jerry Adair) leaves town, placing deputy Angelo (Michael Jordan) in charge. Angelo quickly abuses his new-found power, unaware that the Duke has sneaked back into town disguised as a priest, and is watching carefully. Hilarity ensues.

The play is based in part on a true story, in which an Italian judge promised a convict’s wife that he would free her husband if she’d sleep with him. She complied, and the judge had her husband killed anyway. Much the same thing happens here, with the judge’s counterpart, Angelo, meeting a similar fate to his real-life prototype.

Comic relief is provided in large part by Collin-Manuel Brixey and Mark Johnson as ne’er-do-wells Pompey and Lucio. Both are wel-

come new faces to the local scene. Ryan Pearson and Claire Battersby (another newcomer, locally) play the condemned man and his sister (instead of the real story’s wife), with Jim Mahoney and Sevrin Mason featured as Pompey’s partner and the local madam.

The performances are generally fine--some much more than that--and the play would be even more amusing and understandable if some of the actors would remember that they’re not emoting for TV or film microphones, but in the rather noisy outdoors, and speak up.

* Classics in the Park production of “Measure for Measure” tours Ventura and Los Angeles counties through Aug. 9. Free, unless indicated. Performances include 1 p.m. Saturday at the Ojai Renaissance Faire at Lake Casitas (free with Faire admission); 5 p.m. July 18 at Conejo Park, Dover and Hendrix avenues, Thousand Oaks; 5 p.m. July 25 at Grape Arbor Park, Calabasas; 7 p.m. July 26 at the Arts Council Center, 482 Greenmeadow Road, Thousand Oaks ($5); 8 p.m. July 31, at Borchard Park, Newbury Park ($5); 2 p.m. Aug. 1, at Barranca Vista Park, Ventura; 3 p.m. Aug. 8, at Arts Council Center, Thousand Oaks ($5); and 6 p.m. Aug. 9, at Calabasas Tennis and Swim Club. (805) 381-2747.

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“Sunshine Boys” Come to Dinner: Neil Simon’s plays can be divided into those that reflect his personal neuroses and those that don’t; in other words, the ones that aren’t consistently funny and those that are. “The Sunshine Boys,” playing at the Marquie Dinner Theater in Camarillo, fortunately falls into the latter category.

Don Pearlman and Joe Belfi star as Willie Clark and Al Lewis, a comedy team who worked more than 43 years in vaudeville and television, but who haven’t spoken in the last 12. Lewis’ nephew, Ben (William Shupe), has arranged for the two to reunite on a television special for a hefty fee: Can the cantankerous old troupers work together long enough to rehearse and perform one piece of vintage material without one causing permanent damage to the other?

Appropriately, the whole show plays like an extended vaudeville sketch, with all three principals (and Kimberly Coger, who appears in an actual vaudeville sketch) displaying impeccable, lightning comic timing under Martin Horsey’s astute direction. Same goes for supporting cast members Lew Silverman, Bob Decker and Dee Ann Helsel.

Though it never says so, the show is evidently set in the late ‘60s or early ‘70s, so a few references are out of date. This isn’t particularly bothersome, and any attempt to update the lines would probably grate. Pearlman and Shupe are--or should be--familiar to local audiences, and their work here is of typical high standard. Belfi, making his local debut, is a welcome addition to the local theater corps.

* “The Sunshine Boys” continues Thursday-Saturday through Aug. 8 at Marquie Dinner Theater, 340 N. Mobil Drive, Camarillo. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., dinner is served at 7 and the show begins shortly after 8. $33; $30, seniors and groups, $28, children under 12. Admission includes the play, buffet dinner with choice of entree, nonalcoholic beverages, tax and tip. A full cash bar is available. (805) 484-9909.