NFDC’s Measure for Measure meets Prohibition

The North Fulton Drama Club is taking on William Shakespeare’s work in a whole new way. They have thrown Measure for Measure into a brand new non-Elizabethan era and spruced up Shakespeare for audiences who feel a little been-there-seen-that when it comes to the playwright. NFDC’s artistic director, Thomas Strickland, offered his insights on the period change, why Measure for Measure fit with the Prohibition era so well, and ultra artsy set design.

NFDC is running Measure for Measure till May 18, for show times and tickets, visit northfultondramaclub.org.

Q. North Fulton Drama Club’s production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure takes a less traditional route for setting. What was behind this choice?

A. There are many places for theatre-goers to find Shakespeare done in a mostly traditional Elizabethan setting, so we endeavor to provide something unique.  And for us, it all comes down to accessibility.

Since January 2006, we’ve been doing Shakespeare in the most accessible ways we can imagine.  Our first outing was a 1960s take on Love’s Labour’s Lost, inspired by images of Kennedy’s Camelot.  The plot of LLL follows the comedic trials and tribulations of four well-to-do men who’ve sworn an oath of celibacy just prior to the arrival of four well-to-do women.  As such, the setting worked like a charm and we were able to present one of Shakespeare’s more problematic plays in a manner that was engaging and entertaining without altering the text itself to suit a more modern audience.  For each production since, we’ve kept to that promise of accessibility, but never at the expense of the script itself.  While we will edit for the sake of length, we respect our audience enough to believe in their ability to find the rhythm in the dialogue and follow along, provided they’re given the opportunity and impetus to do so.

This has led us to a Macbeth set in 1930s Louisiana, a glam rock Midsummer [Night’s Dream], even a Henry IV – Part 1 that borrows from Rebel Without A Cause.  And now we’re approaching Measure for Measure with an eye for Bauhaus design and a setting drawn from last century’s Prohibition.

Q. Measure for Measure is boiled down to the question of what is wrong and what is right. How did changing the era that this play is set in influence this theme?

A. In Measure for Measure, the reigning Duke abdicates his role in an effort to corral the vice run rampant in Vienna.  As he says, the laws on the books have gone unheeded for so long that he would seem tyrannous to suddenly shift direction and enforce them all.  So he brings in Angelo, a kind of proxy, to do the enforcing of law that the Duke cannot.  The result is a kind of prohibition encompassing all manner of vice, fornication in particular.  As such, Measure for Measure finds a very effective home in Prohibition Era America.

It’s an unspoken rule with us that if the setting starts to dictate the progression and plot of the play itself, the setting has grown unwieldy (or is too small in some cases).  The problem with any kind of conceptual Shakespeare is almost always when the play stops being about itself and starts becoming an excuse for a disparate idea.

Q. Do you think that since Shakespeare has been taught and produced so frequently that by setting it in a new place, during a new time that it freshens it up for audiences and allows them to notice certain things they never did before with more traditional productions?

A. Like a broken record, I will skip back to that word again: accessibility.  There are times – and we’ve heard this from audiences ever since the beginning – when all it took was a slightly different angle for a previously bewildered theatre-goer to suddenly snap into focus on a Shakespearean idea.  After all, each of Shakespeare’s plays are simply different approaches to telling the same human story.  Sometimes he centers on love, other times on revenge, but in the end, these plays remain popular and never go unperformed because they are so incredibly relevant.

Q. What other changes should audiences look forward to?

A. The set is inspired by the Bauhaus art movement that ran parallel to Prohibition.  Had you told me seven years ago that one day we’d be putting actors on a three-dimensional recreation of a Kandinsky masterpiece, I’d thought you were mocking me and cruelly too.  And yet, here we are in tech week and sure enough, there’s a giant early abstract art piece on the lawn at Barrington Hall.  With actors on it.

Additionally, as has become a tradition with our previous shows, the music of the era features quite prominently.  As such, audience members will see just why we included the likes of Sophie Tucker and Bessie Smith in our pre-show research.

Q. North Fulton Drama Club offers these performances for free general admission which makes it a true labor of love. Why was it so important to make sure these productions were cost free?

A. We’re a non-profit theatre company.  All of us on the board and everyone on stage, we all have day jobs.  So we do this, putting in all of this time and effort for a few months out of the year, because we love the material.  And for me, it is about being part of a much larger tradition, directors and players, designers and producers, who’ve each approached the work of this particularly amazing playwright, and none of us have come close to wringing out every bit of the potential for something wonderful.  The work is worth doing, and if the result of our efforts is just one more person who falls in love with Shakespeare, then all the better.