Los Angeles Times - 04.03.2020

LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2020E3

Think of it as the #TheeToo movement.¶The Antaeus Theatre

Company’s current production of “Measure for Measure” follows an Ensemble Theatre

Company production of Shakespeare’s classic in Santa Barbara this fall and a New Ameri-

can Theatre staging in Hollywood last season, not to mention recent productions at the Bar-

bican in London and the Public in New York.

CAROLYN RATTERAY,who plays Isabella in Antaeus’ production of Shakespeare’s “Measure for Mea-

sure,” says of her character, “Reading this play anew, I realized Isabella suffers a tremendous trauma.”

Jenny Graham

Shakespeare’s

#MeToo play

Antaeus finds his ‘Measure’ ‘amazingly prescient’

The reason for its ubiquity is clear:

The plot contains some conspicuous

parallels to the present day. Most obvi-

ously, it centers on a woman who is

sexually blackmailed by a powerful

man.

But to co-directors Armin Shi-

merman and Elizabeth Swain, this

play’s resonance runs far deeper than

its echoes of Harvey Weinstein.

They argue that “Measure for Mea-

sure” depicts how rigid religious be-

liefs can blind us to human suffering,

and it offers a clear warning of what

can go wrong when a ruler with im-

pulse-control issues obtains auto-

cratic power.

“Shakespeare’s text is amazingly

prescient,” said Carolyn Ratteray,

who is playing the central role of Isa-

bella, recipient of the aforementioned

indecent proposal. “The play is a med-

itation on what happens when power

corrupts.”

First performed in 1604, “Measure

for Measure” is a play about the inter-

section of public and private morality.

Concerned that the residents of his

city have lost their ethical compass

(for one thing, the brothel business is

booming), the Duke of Vienna goes

undercover to investigate, leaving his

deputy Angelo in charge.

After some hesitation, Angelo pro-

ceeds to enforce long-forgotten laws

rigorously. This effort leads to the ar-

rest of a local man named Claudio,

who has impregnated his fiancée.

When Claudio’s sister Isabella, who

is about to become a nun, comes to An-

gelo to plead on her brother’s behalf,

he agrees to a deal: Claudio, who is fac-

ing the death penalty, can go free if Isa-

bella will have sex with him.

Contemporary analogies are easy

to make. But the Antaeus team is de-

cidedly not following the template of

the Public Theater’s much-discussed

2017 production of “Julius Caesar” in

New York’s Central Park, where the ti-

tle character bore an uncanny resem-

blance to Donald Trump. “There are

contemporary parallels,” Shimerman

said, “but we expect the audience to be

smart enough, and well-read enough,

to make the connection for them-

selves.”

Swain said they couldn’t direct the

play to fit today’s headlines. “That

would be fatal,” she said. “But so many

resonances have come up for me, as a

woman, while working on this play.”

For both directors and their lead

actor, this production is informed less

by specific events or personalities

than by our shifting attitudes and as-

sumptions regarding sexual coercion.

“Years ago, people would say, ‘Isa-

bella is so cold not to sleep with Angelo

so she could free her brother,’ ” Rat-

teray said. “That reaction was the

norm. Today, as a society, we’re at

least a little more attuned to survivors’

rights. Reading this play anew, I real-

ized Isabella suffers a tremendous

trauma.”

The character’s agony is com-

pounded by Angelo’s assertion that no

one would believe her if she goes pub-

lic, especially given his high rank. “It’s

so easy to not take people’s experi-

ences seriously, based upon who is in a

position of power,” Ratteray said.

In some productions, Swain said,

Isabella is dumbfounded by Angelo’s

demand. In contrast, Swain views Isa-

bella’s initial hesitation as “an exam-

ple of how women make excuses for

men.”

The initial thought that Angelo

couldn’t mean what he said is followed

by the realization that maybe he does.

Finally, reality sinks in: “Oh ... he

does!” Swain said with an expletive.

Having a male and a female point of

view has been useful, she said.

Shimerman agreed, adding that

they usually work out their disagree-

ments by simply trying different ideas

and seeing what works.

“Sometimes she convinces me,

sometimes I convince her,” he said.

“Debates and differences of opinion

are a very good thing in the theater.”

That can be especially true with

Shakespeare’s “problem plays,” the la-

bel frequently applied to “Measure for

Measure.” It contains elements of

comedy and tragedy, which can make

tone tricky.

“The key is letting the humor be,

and letting the darkness be,” Swain

said. “The comic scenes reflect on the

serious ones.”

Most in the cast of 10 play two or

three roles. Costumes subtly suggest

the characters’ social standing, but

the era they inhabit is purposefully

vague — “both 1604 and 2020,” Shi-

merman said.

The directors have pared down the

text; each of the two acts should clock

in at about an hour and 10 minutes.

Most important, “We’ve put a lot of

work into making sure the language is

clear,” Swain said. “We made sure the

actors weren’t uttering a syllable they

didn’t understand.”

Through that clarity of language,

Ratteray said, “We’re allowing the play

to speak for itself. The play is very res-

onant, but it doesn’t need to be under-

lined.”

“Measure for Measure” is an unset-

tling play, Shimerman said. “But we

are living in unsettling times.”

latimes.com/arts

CULTURE MONSTER

MUSIC

Darya Dadvar

Royce Hall, UCLA

6 p.m. Sunday

$50-$220

DANCE

“Of Love and Rage”

Segerstrom Hall,

Costa Mesa

7:30 p.m. Thu.-Fri., 2 and

7:30 p.m. Sat., 1 p.m. Sun.

$29 and up

THEATER

“Parable of the Sower”

Center for the Art

of Performance at UCLA

8 p.m. Saturday

$28 and up

MUSIC

Academy of St. Martin

in the Fields

and Joshua Bell

The Soraya, Northridge

8 p.m. Wednesday

$61-$129

THEATER

“Outside Mullingar”

South Coast Repertory,

Costa Mesa

Preview start 2 p.m. Sunday

Ends March 29

$24 and up

5 DAYS

OUT

Highlights of the week

ahead in arts, music

and performance

The novel coronavirus has
closed movie theaters, theme
parks and film shoots in
China. It has shuttered the
Louvre Museum in Paris and
La Scala opera house in Mi-
lan, and not far away in
Venice, Italy, it cut short Car-
nival. Travel bans meant to
curb person-to-person
spread of a virus have
trimmed attendance at film
and gaming conferences, and
some music festivals and
concerts have been post-
poned indefinitely.
Now the virus’ recent de-
tection on the West Coast has
spurred arts institutions
here to go on high alert in the
event the disease spreads
greatly beyond the 40-plus
cases that have been re-
ported in California.
The common line among
museums and theaters is
that they are monitoring the
situation and planning to op-
erate as usual, unless told
otherwise by county or state
health departments, the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention or the World
Health Organization. Even
though more than 3,000 have
died from COVID-19 world-
wide, health officials have not
recommended closure of
venues or the cancellation of
public events in California
because the immediate risk
of transmission remains
low.
The Getty Trust, whose
operations include the Getty
Center in Brentwood and the
Getty Villa in Pacific Pali-
sades, said it formed a co-
ronavirus task force “to as-
sure that we are keeping our
employees, volunteers and
visitors safe and closely in-
formed.” Employee travel to
Italy, China and South Korea
— all coronavirus hot spots —
has been canceled.
The Museum of Contem-
porary Art has a coronavirus
task force that is meeting
daily, and a spokeswoman
said, “we are communicating
closely with our colleagues at
other institutions in Los An-
geles.”

Eye on sanitizing

With the phrase “hands-
on exhibits” taking on new
meaning to a germ-phobic
public, the Natural History
Museum of Los Angeles
County and its sister sites,
the La Brea Tar Pits and the
William S. Hart Museum,
have added more hand sani-
tizers. The Cayton Children’s
Museum, which opened last
year in Santa Monica, stres-
sed that its daily sanitizing
procedures cover not just ex-
hibits and bathrooms but
also door handles and hand-
rails.
The Music Center —
which operates venues for
Los Angeles Philharmonic,
Los Angeles Opera, the L.A.
Master Chorale and Center
Theatre Group — said it has
increased disinfection prac-
tices at Walt Disney Concert
Hall, Dorothy Chandler Pa-

vilion, Ahmanson Theatre

and Mark Taper Forum. The

Music Center has set up ad-

ditional hand sanitizer sta-

tions across the downtown

L.A. campus and imple-

mented more flexible ticket

exchange policies.

All of the region’s more es-

tablished theaters reached

by The Times, including the

Geffen Playhouse, the

Odyssey and South Coast

Repertory, said they will

carry on with programming

plans, at least for now. Most

have added hand sanitizers

or cleansing wipes. Theaters

reported receiving few audi-

ence inquiries about contin-

gency plans. Nevertheless,

some, including American

Conservatory Theatre in San

Francisco, are sending an

email of reassurance to pa-

trons.

“We just want to let our

audiences and supporters

know we care about them,

we’re actively aware of the

latest information and we’re

working to ensure that they

are healthy and safe,” said

Jennifer Bielstein, ACT’s exe-

cutive director. “Their safety

is always the most important

thing.”

The 24th Street Theatre

in L.A. is opening its back-

stage bathrooms for audi-

ence members before and af-

ter performances, so more

sinks are available for wash-

ing hands. The theater also

installed signs advising

proper hand-washing prac-

tices and paused the use of

theatrical masks during stu-

dent workshops.

‘Focus on the facts’

Many houses around

town like the Fountain Thea-

tre and Echo Theater Com-

pany are discussing how to

brace for the effect the co-

ronavirus might have on au-

dience retention.

“That may seem prema-

ture, but to me, it isn’t,” said

Stephen Sachs, co-founder

and co-artistic director of the

Fountain. “This is such an ex-

traordinary and rapidly

changing situation. It’s not a

matter of waiting for the virus

to get here. It has arrived. It’s

something we’re gonna have

to deal with — to what extent,

we don’t know. The best

thing we can all do is start

talking about it and not be in

denial about it so we can deal

with it clearly and responsi-

bly.”

Actors’ Equity, the union

representing theater actors

and stage managers, issued a

statement that said “the best

way to remain safe in the

workplace is to focus on the

facts and not fear.”

“We have shared guidance

with staff, posted resources

for members and are having

the appropriate internal con-

versations about maintain-

ing business continuity if an

outbreak becomes more se-

vere,” wrote Brandon

Lorenz, Equity’s national di-

rector of communications.

“We have also initiated con-

versations with major Equity

employers and other labor

leaders around maintaining

a safe and healthy work-

place.”

Times staff writer Jessica

Gelt contributed to this

report.

Area theaters,

museums are

on high alert

Arts institutions map

out contingency plans

to deal with the

coronavirus crisis.

By Ashley Lee

DAILYsanitizing procedures at Santa Monica’s Cay-
ton Children’s Museum are comprehensive, it says.

Claire CollinsLos Angeles Times

‘Measure

for Measure’

Who:Antaeus Theatre Company

Where:Kiki & David Gindler

Performing Arts Center, 110 E.

Broadway, Glendale

When:8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays,

2 p.m. Sundays, 8 p.m. Mondays,

through April 6

Tickets:$35

Info:(818) 506-1983, antaeus.org

By Tom Jacobs>>>