Ahmanson to Stage Two Plays by Shakespeare in June

Sir Peter Hall will stage both “Measure for Measure” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Ahmanson Theatre in June, using a repertory schedule and a company that will feature, among others, Richard Thomas, Kelly McGillis and David Dukes.

When the Ahmanson announced its season last year, the lineup included Hall’s staging of either “Measure” or “Midsummer.” But Ahmanson producer/artistic director Gordon Davidson said the offering was expanded to include both productions after a donor, whom he would not yet identify, offered about half of the $500,000 required for four extra weeks of rehearsal time and additional design elements.

From the beginning of discussions with Hall, the goal was to stage both plays, Davidson said. “It’s better for us not to put all our eggs in one basket. It’s more interesting for audiences to be able to see two plays with the same company [subscribers will receive only one play as part of their package, but they get discounts on the other; single tickets will, as always, be available for both]. It’s more interesting for actors to get to play contrasting roles. And there is a better opportunity to evolve a sense of company because the rehearsal period is eight weeks instead of four.”

Davidson hopes the Shakespeare repertory will become an annual tradition. “I’m committing myself, in principle, that this is not a one-shot experience,” he said. According to both Davidson and Hall, who was quoted in the British newspaper the Guardian on Saturday, talks are underway to present Kevin Kline as Coriolanus and Christopher Plummer as King Lear in the summer of 2000. Hall could not be reached for comment for this article.

Hall, who co-founded the Royal Shakespeare Company and also ran Britain’s National Theatre for 15 years, conducted two master classes in Los Angeles recently in which a number of Hollywood luminaries brushed up their Shakespeare in anticipation of possible participation in the Ahmanson repertory, either this year or in the future.

Describing the L.A. master classes and others in New York in a recent article in the Spectator, Hall wrote that Americans “have plenty of temperament,” if not technique, and “a great sense of rhythm and musicality.” He praised the openness, boldness and enthusiasm of the actors with whom he worked, but he added that Hollywood production schedules too often stand in the way. Los Angeles, he wrote, “has probably the biggest pool of talented actors in the world, but they are there not to act but to wait--in case the TV or the movie calls.”

Davidson added that this problem is worse now than when the Ahmanson’s smaller sister, the Mark Taper Forum, presented several seasons of home-grown repertory in the early and mid-’80s. Back then, he said, stars would be free to work on stage during the TV industry’s traditional hiatuses, but the proliferation of opportunities to work on cable projects and pilots, if not series, has ended the very idea of a hiatus.

Of the style of the two productions, Davidson said only that they will not be in contemporary dress. However, he said of “Measure for Measure”--the story of a sexual corruption scandal in the Viennese government--”you can’t do it and not think about what has gone on in Washington.”

The casting so far includes Thomas as Puck in “Midsummer” and Angelo in “Measure,” McGillis as Titania in “Midsummer,” and Dukes as Theseus in “Midsummer” and Lucio in “Measure.”