{"id":166,"date":"2024-01-26T11:58:36","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T11:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.edgehill.ac.uk\/ohtc\/?page_id=166"},"modified":"2024-06-13T16:36:02","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T15:36:02","slug":"half-measures","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.edgehill.ac.uk\/ohtc\/half-measures\/","title":{"rendered":"Half Measures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Half Measures <\/em>is the first of Tim Prentki’s three plays in the Encounters With Shakespeare <\/em>series. Scenes from William Shakespeare’s, Measure for Measure<\/em> (1604) introduce the Duke of Vienna, Lord Angelo, his Deputy, and Isabella, a novice nun, sister to Claudio, a man condemned to death for lechery under a law revived and enforced by the \u2018severe\u2019 Lord Angelo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Lucie Meiselle as Isabella, Paul O’Hanrahan as Lord Angelo (Half Measures<\/em>, Rose Theatre, Edge Hill University, 2016) Image: Helen Newall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These episodes are played against original scenes set in Liverpool, 2016. In the 21st century storyline, Nadia is a twenty-three-year-old woman from Eastern Ukraine, smuggled illegally into England via the port of Liverpool, and Angelo Saldini is a premier league football star from Italy. The dramatic action opens in seventeenth-century Vienna, and unfolds over eleven scenes, five of which dramatize Nadia\u2019s journey to, and life in Liverpool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Miles Poller as Angelo Saldini, Eve Charlton as Nadia (rehearsal for Half Measures<\/em>, 2022) Image: Emma Fraser<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Half Measures<\/em> premiered at the Rose Theatre, Edge Hill University, in October 2016 (https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/performingarts-edgehill\/albums\/72157675534937705\/with\/30369261192), and a new production played to capacity audiences over two nights at Shakespeare North Playhouse Studio (September 2022). On each occasion, some twenty people out of 50 chose to return after a break, to deliberate on questions prompted by the play. OHTC seeks to make Shakespeare’s language and meaning immediately accessible to a contemporary audience, and people commented on this, as follows,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The modern version helped people understand the Shakespearean version.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There wasn\u2019t a single wasted moment on stage. It was short and snappy whilst conveying a clear message.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The performances were entertaining but subtle. There were funny moments that were taken over by the dark themes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The performance was intimate. One half of the play would set up tension for the other half because you knew something bad was going to happen but you still had hope that it wouldn\u2019t.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was like flipping between two sides of a Double A-Side single record.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

OHTC also sought to address common barriers to engagement with Shakespeare’s works, and audience members commented,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel like I\u2019ve learned something.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This show is my access point to Shakespeare. I\u2019ve been coming to the Playhouse since it opened, and taking part in lots of events. Before now, going to Shakespeare\u2019s plays would have been like listening to something in a foreign language, or watching a ballet, or something like that. This play is really different. Like I said, it was an access point for me, because what was happening in Liverpool in 2016 helped me to understand what was going on in Vienna in 1604.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had to study Shakespeare years ago for \u2018O\u2019 and \u2018A\u2019 levels. It was really difficult and never made much sense to me. This play made me feel like Shakespeare had to do with the world I live in.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half Measures<\/em> presented opportunities for ‘ethical encounters’ between audiences and a young Ukrainian woman, in circumstances in which her personal history and unfolding circumstances could be understood from her perspective. Several people commented that they were struck by the relevance of the theme to current controversies around gender and power, and the ongoing war in Ukraine. Some stated that the portrayal of Nadia enabled people to begin to understand, for the first time, the situation of Ukrainian refugees from their perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History repeats itself and this play showed that although the context changes, \u2018human nature\u2019 doesn\u2019t, and misogyny is still a real problem 400 years in the future.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted to walk up on that stage and punch Lord Angelo\u2019s lights out!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The performances were captivating. All of them \u2013 especially Nadia, the young Ukrainian woman, and Angelo the footballer.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was relevant to the current war in Ukraine and made people realise how oblivious most of us were to the conflict in 2016. It made me think of Ukrainians in Liverpool now, refugees from a war that\u2019s still going on. It made me think again about our responsibilities to people like them.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our decision to elicit audience responses at an open script reading of Lear in Brexitland<\/em>, prior to beginning rehearsals for the 2023 run, was a direct consequence of our conversations with audiences for Half Measures<\/em>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Half Measures is the first of Tim Prentki’s three plays in the Encounters With Shakespeare series. Scenes from William Shakespeare’s, Measure for Measure (1604) introduce the Duke of Vienna, Lord Angelo, his Deputy, and Isabella, a novice nun, sister to Claudio, a man condemned to death for lechery under a law revived and enforced by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1271,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-166","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHalf Measures - One Hour Theatre Company<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Half Measures - One Hour Theatre Company\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Half Measures is the first of Tim Prentki’s three plays in the Encounters With Shakespeare series. 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