Measure for Measure is often described as one of Shakespeare’s “problem” plays—not quite a comedy, not quite a tragedy—with the resolution at the end containing potentially more questions than answers. But rarely are chapters of history and humanity wrapped up in neat little bows of all comedy or all tragedy, so aren’t the “problem” plays really just a reflection of real life? I hereby submit my petition for these plays to be re-named Shakespeare’s “why do these feel like they could have been written yesterday” plays!

We are not so different from the people who gathered in London to first watch Measure for Measure in 1604. Both then and now, there are secrets and schemes taking place behind closed doors. There are women whose stories aren’t believed. There are people who have children out of wedlock because they can’t afford to get married beforehand. There are sisters and brothers who don’t know how to help each other. There are rules in law books that are not enforced, until suddenly, with some new political leader appointed, they re-emerge as enforceable. There are sex workers who make a good living. There are people who pay for sex. There are people carrying the heartbreak of broken promises. There are those who seek redemption in their faith. There are those who seek redemption in following the rules. There are those who seek redemption in breaking all the rules. There are women who don’t fit in with the societal expectation they’ve been dealt. There are leaders who don’t have all the right answers and make mistakes in the attempt. And there is justice–messy justice–asking us to decide if the ends justify the means.

I was trained at the Academy for Classical Acting under the direction of Michael Kahn. Perhaps best known for casting Patti LuPone in a “bit part” (her words) while she was a student at Juilliard, his actual legacy exists in the success of both the Folger Theatre and Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. His first big break came from directing Measure for Measure for Joseph Papp in 1966. It is in the spirit of his words that I invite you to experience this production:

“Shakespeare is not a moralist. The reason that Shakespeare has lived for this many years is he doesn't have a point to make about politics. He doesn't have a point to make about love. He has an investigation of those. I've always felt when I was doing Shakespeare that I was both honoring the playwright, 450-years-old, and trying to see it through the times I live in. It means those things in the plays that strike me, and any of us, as something that also connects to the world that I'm in, has always been important to me in staging the plays.”

–Erin Jerozal