The director of a theatrical production rarely graces the stage on which he has worked so hard to shape a drama, but James Loehlin stepped into the limelight of Center Theater on Tuesday afternoon to deliver a long, not-so-dramatic monologue titled "Shakespeare's Urban Problem Play."
Loehlin's currently running production of "Measure for Measure," which he contemporized and set in an unspecified, deteriorating city (although the Brooklyn accents of some of the characters lead one to speculate) opened last week to campus-wide praise.
The play's central themes, Loehlin felt, resonate keenly with a modern audience. Elements of the plot such as sexual harassment, capital punishment, and an atmosphere of anarchy seem to articulate contemporary despair.
Loehlin said that he first conceived of a modernized "Measure for Measure" in the 1980s, when "fundamentalist evangelists were showing their sexual hypocrisy" and then again more recently when the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas dispute raged.
"Measure for Measure" revolves around the effects of the Duke of Venice's abdication and the temporary transfer of power to his deputy Angelo. As the Duke goes underground to observe his people, Angelo miscarries justice when he attempts to extract sexual favors from Isabella, a novice nun, in exchange for the release of her brother Claudio, who is sentenced to death on fornication charges.
The play has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in the twentieth century, largely because modern audiences respond its dark comic sensibility in which none of the characters are clearly spotless.
Loehlin talked about directorial decisions such as the editing of lines, staging, and his interpretation of the play's end, which in this production is as bleak as the text will allow. He stated that he felt all his decisions were supported by the text.
Indeed, Loehlin has much experience interpreting Shakespeare; his doctoral thesis at Stanford examined late twentieth-century revisionism of "Henry V." Now, as a visiting drama professor, Loehlin engages the College with a fine and thoughtful production of one of Shakespeare's most difficult plays.
