Theatre Verity presents Mr. Angelo by Daniel Tarker, a contemporary re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. When Clay Stephens is arrested for statutory rape after getting his sixteen year old girlfriend pregnant, he pleads with his sister, Isabelle, to help him fight the felony sex charges by using her influence as a popular local pastor to persuade the district attorney to drop the case. Yet, the district attorney, a new appointee named Mr. Angelo, has his own nefarious agenda – for Clay and Isabelle. Mr. Angelo runs January 14 – February 7 at the Odd Duck Studio on Capitol Hill. Performances are Thursday – Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm. Admission is $15.00. Tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets. More information can be found at: http://mrangelo.weebly.com/
Is there ever a time to compromise our ethics for the greater good —especially when our ethics define our identity and how we interact with the world?
This is the question at the core of Daniel Tarker’s new drama Mr. Angelo. Based loosely on Shakespeare’s darkest comedy Measure for Measure, Mr. Tarker weaves an even darker and far more disturbing drama that explores a host of hot button themes including sex, politics, religion, hypocrisy, and morality in contemporary America.
Opening January 14 and running through February 7 at the Odd Duck Studio on Capitol Hill, Mr. Angelo promises to be a provocative evening for audiences seeking an intense and thought provoking drama full of surprising twists and turns. Performances are Thursday-Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm. Tickets can be purchased for $15.00 through Brown Paper Tickets.
When Clay Stephens is arrested for statutory rape after getting his sixteen year old girlfriend pregnant, he pleads with his sister, Isabelle, to help him fight the charge by using her influence as a popular local pastor to get the district attorney to drop the case. Yet, the district attorney, a new appointee named Mr. Angelo, is not so easily persuaded. He has his own desires that need to be satisfied first—and apparently they can only be satisfied by Isabelle.
“This is more than just a retelling of Measure for Measure,” says Tarker, who explains he wanted to make sure this play said something new instead of covering the same ground as the source material. By re-imagining this story and focusing the lens squarely on the three primary female characters in Measure for Measure, many new issues emerged that needed to be explored. Some of these issues include: why do some politicians get themselves embroiled in sex scandals, are our current statutory rape laws just, and what challenges do female pastors face trying to fill a role traditionally occupied by men?
Directed by local theatre veteran M.E. Graham, Mr. Angelo features the talents of Emmatrice Devan, Aaron Key, Alysha Curry, Jesse Putnam, Lyn Coffin, and Kara Thornes. Technical support is provided by Laura Goodwin (Stage Management), Afton Pilkington (Costume Design), Theodore Michael Dolas (Lighting Design), and Mikala Tarker (Set and Props). More information can be found at: http://mrangelo.weebly.com/.
