by Vince Duvall~

A few minutes earlier, in the cozy little lobby of The Space just off Melrose, I chatted with Coeurage Theatre’s a artistic director Mr. Jeremy Lelliot about the company’s recent move from the valley to Hollywood and their experience at the Hollywood Fringe Festival - year one, which seems to have sparked something that is still taking shape in Hollywood in a surprising way - a grinding new desire to do something personal, effective and lasting in live theatre, outside of the Taper and their big bucks (I added that last part). Now, before the curtain is opened on night two of their newly designed, modest black box stage, young Jeremy is addressing the audience with care and a solid kind of affection for us being there on a pay-what-you- want night. Pay-what-you-want, aside from meaning exactly that, implies that maybe these folks like what they do and are going to keep on doing it regardless of the dollars. It makes me a little more hopeful that I might like it too.

But I’m looking at the program and thinking about 5 acts of Shakespeare with characters popping out of every floor board crack in immensely convoluted interaction, wondering if this story, about a power hungry deputy ( Angelo) entrusted by the Duke of Vienna (Vincentio) who, feeling ineffectual, goes undercover in his city to see if the people, like crows sitting on a scarecrow, have grown so accustomed to his laws that they no longer fear them, and if the themes of corrupt authority and sexual morality brought out by the events of Claudio, a man sentenced to die for having illegal sex out of wedlock and his chaste sister Isabelle, who goes to Angelo to plead her brother’s case, can be encapsulated in a few sentences and if five actors can pull it off on stage. In particular, I’m wondering what’s going to happen at the end when all the characters (21, plus lords, officers and attendants) are supposed to be on stage, together, at the same time.

When the lights come up and the five actors stand staring defiantly at the audience, it occurs to me that they might be wondering the same thing. But what the heck – they’re gonna give it a shot. The company graciously eased us into the language and setting by highlighting details and speaking with great clarity until our ears adjusted – whether by accident or on purpose. A lot of confusion can ensue even when the respective characters are represented by individual actors but in this troupe, with each member taking on many, signified with distinct commedia- like manners, behavior or simple accessory, their transitions became part of the entertainment.

A funny, unflappable, sad sack Master Frothe, played by Ms. Sammi Smith or the friar’s and constable’s turnarounds with a flip of suspenders or scarf, had characters appearing or disappearing under a hat or with a gesture, moving the play along with inspired care that let us get caught up in the action. Though there were a few fumbles and it was by no means miraculous, in a Robin Williams ADD kind of way, these are smart actors who are fun to watch. A jingling chains sound effect employed by a member off stage, while the actor, in his imaginary shackles, scuffles across the stage in counsel, is the kind of troupe detail that must have excited the inn yards of England and reminded me of clever RSC productions I have seen.

In Shakespeare’s tragedies, the good end unhappily, the bad die, in comedies the good are delivered, the bad punished and all in their place -measure for measure. The audience certainly laughed and enjoyed Coeurage Theatre’s production like a comedy– even the guy, perhaps made of paper, who laughed a little too loudly but at least at the right times. But by its discordant shifts in tone from comic to tragic and the sensitive dynamics of love and marriage, this play is arguably in that grey area between tragedy and comedy - what is called a “problem play” - because it presents a social problem. In the case of Measure for Measure, one of sexual responsibility and moral corruption. Not much has changed given our current climate. How to find folly and depth at the same time is a noble aim and no doubt one Shakespeare himself (if he existed) struggled with in the writing. Strong scenes, between Isabelle (Ms. Smith), the sister of the sentenced man and Angelo (Peter Weidman) the entrusted authority, hold up the moral questions while many other performances, in particular John Klopping in perhaps the widest range of characters as Escalus, Lucio, and Provost, provide healthy doses of humor - that final schizophrenic scene at the pinnacle.

A rotating door, a French entrance and a secret curtain, The Space is freshly designed for the smart fun they seemed to already be having – indeed for their folly. Mr. Gedaly Gubereks staging was simple and thoughtful, props creatively applied. I was thankful for the streamlined approach which they played at neatly. But even considering the complexity of the ensemble and the 2^nd night legs, there did seem a lack of fervor or commitment– the kind of intensity that might have encouraged inn yard audiences to the verge of riot. Coeurage is definitely on the right track, grabbing the newly fraught orbs of their artistic manhood and Shakespearing them into a budding first season. Shakespeare never grows old. There is sense in truth and truth in virtue…haste still pays haste… and measure still for measure. I’m going back at the end of the run.

Measure for Measure plays at 8 pm, Friday and Saturday, Sunday at 7pm until August 8th, 2010

The Space theatre is at 665 North Heliotrope Dr., Los Angeles, 90029, south of Melrose and east of the 101 Fwy.

Tickets are Pay-What-You-Want admission.

Reservations and more information atwww.CoeurageTheatre.com