Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

SU Drama Tackles the Bard and Blasphemy in ‘Measure for Measure’

Friday, March 20, 2015, By News Staff
Share
College of Visual and Performing Arts

Hypocrites, beware! Such is the matter of this profound and intriguing late comedy by Shakespeare. When Duke Vincentio of Vienna inexplicably hands over power to Lord Angelo, a man of self-professed puritanism, he lays a trap that ensnares the falsely virtuous and rewards the just and true. Like most Shakespearean comedies, the course to the truth is neither smooth nor easy, but it is filled with engaging characters and extraordinary events, and even concludes with multiple marriages—however unlikely that may sometimes seem.

measurePresented by the Department of Drama in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (SU Drama), “Measure for Measure” performs March 27 through April 12 in the Loft Theater at the Syracuse Stage/Drama Complex, 820 E. Genesee St. Tickets range $17-$19 and can be purchased at http://vpa.syr.edu/drama/tickets, by phone at 315-443-3275 or in person at the Box Office, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Shakespeare set “Measure for Measure” in Vienna during the 1600s. Director Celia Madeoy has advanced the time period of this production to around the 1880s, when, similarly to Shakespeare’s Duke Vincentio, Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf was seeking social reform.

Through a series of secrets and false identities, the characters question morality, justice and freedom. This demands a strong ensemble, with many actors portraying more than one role.

“‘Measure for Measure’ was written in 1604, and still it presents a powerfully provocative, timely and extremely modern debate,” says Madeoy, an assistant professor for SU Drama. “It is a play about human contradiction—I can be this, and I can also be that. I want our actors to access and relish the play’s language and bring it to life for audiences.”

Performing in the intimate Loft Theater, “Measure for Measure” takes advantage of a flexible space where the audience is face to face with the action, including elements of sound, dance and stage combat. Scenic designer Maria Marrero was tasked with creating an acting space that allowed for dynamic action and quick changes of setting. With limited available square footage on the ground, the answer was to build up.

“We created levels, which allow for having a dozen or so actors on the stage at one time,” says Marrero, a faculty member in SU Drama’s theater design and technology program. “In addition, we created several options for exits and entrances, so that as one scene ends, another scene could begin immediately in a different space.”

The Loft Theatre is located on the second level of the Syracuse Stage/Drama Complex. Seating will be general admission. To enter the building, patrons may use the side entrance located on Irving Avenue under the red awning, the same entrance that is used for performances in the Storch Theatre.

 

 

 

 

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Drama Department to Virtually Present New Theatrical Work Inspired by University’s 150th Anniversary
    Saturday, January 23, 2021, By Erica Blust
  • Professor Rahman Awarded Google Grant to Engage Underrepresented Students in Computing Research
    Saturday, January 23, 2021, By Alex Dunbar
  • Special Collections Research Center Launches Latin American 45s Digital Collection
    Saturday, January 23, 2021, By Cristina Hatem
  • VPA Faculty to Present World Premieres at Society for New Music Concert Jan. 31
    Saturday, January 23, 2021, By News Staff
  • ‘Democracy on Trial: Can We Save It?’
    Friday, January 22, 2021, By News Staff

More In Arts & Culture

Drama Department to Virtually Present New Theatrical Work Inspired by University’s 150th Anniversary

Inspired by Syracuse University’s 150th anniversary, the Department of Drama in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) will virtually present “Impact: Past, Present, Future,” a new theatrical piece that will be performed live in a series of four staged…

Special Collections Research Center Launches Latin American 45s Digital Collection

Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center (SCRC), working in partnership with the Digital Library Program (DLP), recently launched the Belfer Latin American 45s Digital Collection. The digital collection will eventually provide access to over 12,000 recordings that date from…

VPA Faculty to Present World Premieres at Society for New Music Concert Jan. 31

Performers affiliated with the Setnor School of Music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) are teaming up with the Society for New Music (SNM) for world premieres by two up-and-coming composers. Cellist Gregory Wood and percussionist Rob…

Sound Beat: Access Audio Offering Children’s Audiobooks about Enslaved People by Cheryl Wills ’89

Sound Beat: Access Audio is providing two free family audiobooks written by Emmy Award-winning journalist Cheryl Wills ’89,  the great-great-great granddaughter of Emma and Sandy Wills, enslaved people from Haywood, Tennessee. The audiobooks are narrated by the author and are…

Syracuse Stage Announces Changes to the 2020/2021 Season

Syracuse Stage announced adjustments to the schedule for the remainder of the 2020/2021 season. These adjustments include replacing previously announced shows with new titles and come in direct response to the evolving situation concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting in February,…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.