It's Ladies' Nights at Taffety Punk Again

Last season, Taffety Punk Theatre Company took a jab at the Shakespeare Theatre Company's all-male version of "Romeo and Juliet," staging the same play with an all-female cast. As classically trained actors (many with MFAs from the Shakespeare Theatre's Academy for Classical Acting) they like to do the Bard with a passionate, punk-inspired aesthetic.

This year, Taffety Punk's Lise Bruneau is back at it, directing Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" with only women. As in "Romeo and Juliet," male roles will be played in drag. It will run Friday through Oct. 10 at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop.

Bruneau (also an actress, recently seen in "Legacy of Light" at Arena Stage) says she was surprised at the depth of gender politics she was able to mine in "Romeo and Juliet." But in "Measure for Measure" she's finding the moral complexities don't roll that way, although the plot hinges on a high official, Angelo, telling a novice nun, Isabella, she must have sex with him to save her brother from execution.

"This play must be full of all sorts of sexual weirdness," Bruneau says she assumed at first. Then, "I realized it's not like that at all. It's actually a very straightforward play. It is actually very, very woman-positive," focusing on "issues of law and morality and adulthood."

Angelo is charged by the Duke of Vienna to enforce the law more strictly than the Duke himself, a forgiving fellow who feels he has been too lax while the city has fallen into chaos. Angelo, a moralist, enforces the law too strictly, then has his own fall from grace.

"I didn't want to do the evil moustache-twirling," says Kimberly Gilbert, who plays Angelo. "It actually helps me a lot to understand his humanity and, at the end, his redemption." Angelo's closely held feelings provide Gilbert, a veteran of wild Woolly Mammoth shows, a challenge. "I usually play characters that have no filter. I'm used to letting it all out," she says. Angelo "is nothing but layers and he is nothing but stillness," says Gilbert. "I wanted to stretch myself in stillness."

Michelle Shupe plays the Duke. "I think Angelo sees everything in black-and-white. I think the Duke sees everything in shades of gray, which makes him think he's not a good leader," she says. Then the Duke sees Angelo's cruel use of the law. "There's a lot of 'Measure for Measure' that harks back to 'Merchant of Venice' -- the idea of mercy."

Esther Williamson plays Isabella, who refuses to sleep with Angelo to save her brother's life, believing it will condemn her soul to hell. Isabella can be played as a true believer or a pill. "That's one of the exciting things about this role, nothing is clear-cut for her," Williamson says. She and several other "Measure for Measure" cast members were in last year's "Romeo and Juliet." For them, the all-one-gender novelty wears off quickly in rehearsals. "As an actor, my work is the same. I'm getting to the heart of my character," Williamson says.

Theater in Fairfax County

Two fledgling professional theater companies in Fairfax County are going into their second seasons with high hopes, if not brimming coffers.

First, there's 1st Stage (http://www.1ststagespringhill.org), which converted and leases a space in Tysons Corner. The company had a five-show season last year (including "The Suicide" and "The Violet Hour"); their inaugural offering this time around is Marivaux's "The Game of Love & Chance," running through Oct. 4. Artistic Director Mark Krikstan has a six-show season planned.

The Hub Theatre (http://www.thehubtheatre.org) began life last year with a single production -- Craig Wright's "The Pavilion." This year Hub Artistic Director Helen Pafumi says the troupe will be semi-itinerant, using ArtSpace in Falls Church, the Greater Reston Arts Center and the Soundry in Vienna.

Hub's first show, a political farce by Dario Fo, "We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay!" will run Oct. 30 to Nov. 22 in ArtSpace. The next full production will be in the spring -- the musical "The Boy in the Bathroom" by Michael Lluberes -- with the venue not yet nailed down. In between, Hub will do staged readings of new works for the Virginia Commission for the Arts, children's theater camp and urban storytelling events.