Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – The Acting Company’s NATIVE SON and MEASURE FOR MEASURE make for a lopsided pairing

• By drediman
• August 14, 2019
• No Comments

Down at the Duke on 42^nd Street, The Acting Company is currently presenting a pair of Off-Broadway productions in repertory – Nambi E. Kelley’s stage adaptation of Richard Wright’s Native Son and a revival of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Although both works are set in times far removed from ours (Mr. Wright wrote Native Son during the Depression; and, well, you know about Shakespeare), both remain strikingly relevant. Indeed, on paper, it’s a fascinating pairing – together they explore the nature of justice, particularly as it relates to people of color and women.

Galen Ryan Kane and Jason Bowen in the Acting Company’s “Native Son” at the Duke on 42nd Street. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

First up was Native Son (HIGLY RECOMMENDED), Ms. Kelley’s highly distilled, dissonant, and hallucinatory re-envisioning of Mr. Wright’s classic novel, which tells the story of Bigger, a young black man who tragically lives up to society’s expectations of him. Ms. Kelley’s adaptation is altogether sensational, her writing echoing the syncopated riffs of jazz music itself. Some may find the playwright’s chronologically scattered approach unnecessarily confusing. I, however, found it to be thrilling and highly theatrical, as if the audience were privy to Bigger see his own life literally flash before his eyes. Seret Scott’s razor-sharp direction and the nuanced work of the cast followed Ms. Kelley’s script beat-by-beat, right up to the story’s heart-pounding conclusion.

Sam Lilja and Rebekah Brockman in The Acting Company’s production of Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure” at the Duke at 42nd Street.
Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

With such an astonishing experience in the bag, I was very much looking forward to Native Son’s companion piece, a revival of the Bard’s increasingly performed dark comedy Measure for Measure (SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED), especially since the production largely utilizes of the same cast and solid multi-tiered set (kudos to Neil Patel for his stylish, flexible design). Director Janet Zarish uses a truncated version — whole scenes are excised and many plot points simply mentioned in passing — which is all well and good. Unfortunately, despite her attempt at streamlining the unlikely plot, Ms. Zariah’s staging lacks excitement, as does much of the acting. Indeed, the company of actors here seem tentative and cautious in their approach to Shakespeare’s language, in stark comparison to their powerful, forceful work in the other production.

NATIVE SON & MEASURE FOR MEASURE
Off-Broadway, Play
The Acting Company / The Duke on 42^ndStreet
Both approximately 90 minutes (without an intermission)
Through August 24