Measure for Measure

Shakespeare & Company presents Measure for Measure, the story of a fight against repressive laws and abuse of power.

When Angelo is abruptly appointed to rule over a chaotic and debauched city, he restores order with n iron fist over what he sees as ‘licentiousness.’ The object of his own twisted desire is a young nun whom he puts in an unthinkable position. “To whom should I complain?” is all that young Isabella can say when she finds herself the target of his ruthlessness.

Ariel Bock will appear as the Duke alongside Nehassaiu deGannes, Ally Farzetta, David Gow, Rory Hammond, Charls Segwick Hall, Vaughn Pole and Indika Senanayake appear in a full perforance following last summer’s workshop.

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The play will run August 19 to September 18, indoors at the Tina Packer Playhouse. For indoor live performances, you will need to show a form of ID proof of vaccination or proof of a negative Covid test taken within the last 48 hours. (You can also submit proof electronically.)

Full cast

Ariel Bock — (Duke)

Among many Shakespeare & Company roles, Ariel Bock has appeared as Rose (The Children), Mom (Ugly Lies the Bone); Mistress Quickly (Henry IV Pts. 1 & 2); Goneril (King Lear); Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing); Elizabeth (Richard III); Audrey (As You Like It); Hippolyta (Midsummer Night’s Dream); The Nurse (Romeo and Juliet); Mistress Quickly (Merry Wives of Windsor); Paulina (The Winter’s Tale) … and as Ruth (Private Eyes), The Woman (Laughing Wild); Arlene (Off the Map) and more. She has performed at Mixed Company — Ramona (Zara Spook and Other Lures) and Eileen (The Cripple of Inishmaan) — and ith the Ensemble for the Romantic Century in New York City.

Nehassaiu deGannes (she / her) — Isabella / Pompey

Among her Shakespeare & Company roles, Nehassaiu deGannes has appeared as Yolande Du Bois in Knock Me A Kiss, Isabella and “Pompey in Measure for Measure (2021 workshop), Esther in Intimate Apparel, Nell Gwynne/Lady Davenant/Maria in Or, and Virgilia et al in Tina Packer’s Bare Bard Coriolanus.

Off Broadway performances include Is God Is with Soho Rep and SEAGULLMACHINE with LaMaMa, and select Regional roles include Three Musketeers, SWEAT with Cleveland Play House, My Lord, What A Night with Florida Studio Theatre, Romeo & Juliet with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The Last Wife with WAM, King Lear with the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Marisol with Luna Stage, Antony & Cleopatra with the Harlem Shakespeare Festival, COCo Dance Theatre National Tour and more.

Internationally she has performed with the Stratford Festival of Canada, Driftwood Theatre, Theatre Aquarius and Theatre Passe Muraille, and her fim roles include Krystal Rullan in EQUAL STANDARD. Her plays include Door of No Return, a solo-show, and EBB & lo’, a work in progress, recipient of an Assembly 2020 Deceleration Lab Grant. Her poetry collection, Music for Exile (by Tupelo Press) is co-winner of the 2021 Sheila Margaret Motton Book Prize. She teaches at Princeton University.

Ally Farzetta — (Mariana)

Ally Farzetta is brimming with gratitude to be back on stage making her Shakespeare & Co debut. Before the pandemic she appeared as Elinor Dashwood in Virginia Stage Company’s production of Sense and Sensibility. She spent two seasons with the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Va. where her credits include Macbeth (Lady Macbeth), The Winter’s Tale (Hermione), Sense and Sensibility (Elinor Dashwood), among many others. Additional regional credits include Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner & Living on Love (Asolo Rep), It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (Shadowland Stages), and Boeing, Boeing (Theater at Monmouth). Ally earned her MFA from FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training where she trained in classical acting under long-time Shakes & Co company member Jonathan Epstein.

David Gow (he / him) — Angelo

David Gow’s film roles include Till, The Intruder TV: The Good Fight and Madam Secretary on CBS and Jon Glaser Loves Gear (truTV). In New York, he has appeared in Burning Leaves with the Duke Theater, Chokehold with the 14th St.Y, Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone in Workshop Theater, Bleach at Wilson’s Lounge and Decky Does a Bronco with Royal Family Productions).

His regional roles include Mothers and Sons and Waverly Gallery with Shakespeare & Company, Up The Hill with the Eugene O’Neill Center, Peter and the Starcatcher at the Smithtown Performing Arts Center, Pirira on Luna Stages, Why Do You Stand There In The Rain with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Scooter Thomas Makes It To The Top of the World with Hollywood Fringe.

Charls Sedgwick Hall (he / him) — Lucio

Charls Sedwick Hall is a Chicago based artist and has spent many years working with Shakespeare & Company in the following productions — Charlie in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), Boyet in Love’s Labours Lost, The Recruiting Officer in Mother Courage and Her Children, Benvolio in Romeo & & Juliet, and with the School’s Tour as Brutus in Julius Caesar and Macduff in Macbeth.

Other credits include, Preacher/Ol’ Mister in The Color Purple, Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing, Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Trinculo in The Tempest, the triumvirate Ghost of Hamlet’s Father, The Player King/Queen and The Gravedigger in Hamlet, Nicola in Arms and the Man, Biedermann in The Firebugs, and Gertie in Angels of Lemnos. Charls is a graduate of New York University’s School of the Performing Arts, represented by Lori Lins, LTD, a faculty member of Shakespeare & Company and dedicates his performance to the memory of Ms. Fran Bennett.

Rory Hammond — (Escalus / Abhorson)

Rory is pleased to be back at her home with Shakespeare & Cmpanyo. Last summer she played The Princess of France in Love’s Labours Lost. In 2016 she was Kacie in Ugly Lies the Bone. NY credits: Pericles (SoHo Rep), Measure for Measure, Bachelorette (Circle in the Square), Where’s My Money (Cherry Lane Theatre), and The Scarlet Letter.

Berkshires credits include Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Taming of the Shrew; King John, Richard III, Merry Wives of Windsor, Off the Map, Much Ado about Nothing, Merchant of Venice, Dibble Dance, Autres Temp, Xingu, and Summer. Actor Training: S&Co starting with Young Company, eventually becoming a member of the Summer Performing Institute (SPI). A graduate of Circle in the Square Theatre School in NYC, and a Founding Member of Animus Theatre Company (New York City).

Vaughn Pole (he / him) — Claudio

Vaughn is excited to be making his Shakespeare & Company debut. Off-Broadway he has performed in Malaise with Cherry Lane Theatre and Welcome to Cookie Mountain with the National Black Theatre, and his regional roles incude Macbeth with the Northampton Center for the Arts, and at Columbia University: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Three Sisters, Measure for Measure, The Death of The Last Black Man … He holds an MFA from Columbia University, and he says to everyone coming this summer, Thank you for spending your time with us.

Indika Senanayake (she / her) — Mistress Overdone / Juliet / Barnadine / Friar Pet

Indika Senanayake is happy to be back at Shakespeare & Company. Her New York credits include: Be the Death of Me and Occupy Your Mind with The Civilians, A Family of Perhaps Three, Yes is for a Very Young Man, Women of Trachis, The Knights and The Birds with Target Margin Theatre, Money Thinks I’m Dead with Mabou Mines RAP, Arden/Everywhere (BPAC), A Midsummer Nights’ Dream with Classic Stage Company, The House of Bernada Alba (NAATCO), and The Jackson Heights Trilogy with Theatre 167.

Internationally she has performed as Villa with ICES, Sri Lanka, and regionally her credits include Serendib with the Hippodrome Theatre, Miss Witherspoon with New City Stage, Cecilia’s Last Tea Party with Passage Theatre, Florida! with Luna Stage and Confluence with Guthrie Theatre. In film and television she has appeared in Beast (2022 Tribeca Film Festival premiere), Lost Cat Corona (with Ralph Macchio), Big Dogs, and Love and Badminton. She is a TCG/Mellon Foundation Global Connections Grant recipient, she holds an MFA in Acting from Columbia University, where she was a Deans’ Fellow.