When mentioning Shakespeare, most people don’t picture New York City during the 1970s, but the University of Memphis production of “Measure for Measure” promises to intrigue students with a modernized version of the play.
The play will be performed Nov. 3-5 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. in the Theatre building. Colton Baker, a 20-year-old musical theatre major, will play Elbow, the Shakespearean comic relief.
“He speaks in malapropism, where he says words that are incorrect but sound the same,” Baker said. “I will perform the character big and ridiculous and communicate the humor of Shakespearean language.”
Baker was always interested in theatre, but his hometown in Arkansas isn’t exactly known for it. “I was a big fish in a small pond,” Baker said. “I felt that theatre was my calling, and it was what I wanted to do. So I auditioned at the university and got selected.”
This is Baker’s fourth main-stage play. The department performs a Shakespeare play every few years. “Measure for Measure” is a dark Shakespearean comedy about Claudio, who is arrested by Vienna’s temporary leader, Lord Angelo.
Angelo is considered the main villain because he tries to stamp out the epidemic of loose living, sentencing Claudio to death for impregnating an unmarried woman. Claudio’s sister, who is about to take her vows as a nun, begs Angelo to save her brother Claudio’s life.
Angelo, at first, denies her requests but soon finds himself overwhelmed by lust for her and proposes an arrangement for the life of Claudio. Background elements of the play greatly help set the scene, according to Baker.
“The lighting helps for the caution of the play and helps students go into the world that we are going,” Baker said.
Baker also explained why “Measure for Measure” is considered a “dark comedy.”
“It is a dark-humored play because it is dealing with a sexual barrier that exists with the law of peace,” Baker said. “Claudio impregnated a woman, and he is not married. The comic part is pointing out the humanity within all that.”
