The Public's MEASURE FOR MEASURE Begins Previews 12/6

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) in association with Ten Thousand Things Theater will begin previews Monday, December 6 for The Mobile Shakespeare Unit's production of MEASURE FOR MEASURE. The inaugural production of The Public's new Shakespeare Platform, MEASURE FOR MEASURE will run December 6 through December 11 at Judson Memorial Church, with an official press opening on Monday, December 6. Tickets are $15 and are on sale now.

MEASURE FOR MEASURE tells the story of a Duke who goes undercover to investigate the behavior of a deputy and to observe the lives of the assorted citizenry, from prostitutes and bawds to high level judges and administrators. The play is a look at the vexing difficulties that attend the fair administration of justice. Ten Thousand Things first performed MEASURE FOR MEASURE in the Twin Cities 12 years ago and found that its low-income audiences, most of whom must daily endure the judgments and injustice of others, deeply connected with Shakespeare's tale.

The cast features Rob Campbell (Angelo/Pompey), Carson Elrod (Lucio, Froth, Barnardine), Meg Gibson (Duke), Shalita Grant (Escalus/Juliette), William Jackson Harper (Claudio, Elbow, Abhorson), Jackie Sanders (Musician), Ruy Iskandar (Provost/Friar), Lanna Joffrey (Mistress Overdone/Mariana), and Nicole Lewis (Isabella).
MEASURE FOR MEASURE features scenic design by Stephen Mohring; costume design by Vivian Pavlos; and music design by Peter Vitale.
Designed to bring the highest caliber professional productions of Shakespeare, free of charge, to audiences with little or no access to major New York City arts institutions, THE MOBILE UNIT will tour MEASURE FOR MEASURE to correctional facilities, homeless shelters, facilities for battered and abused women, drug rehab facilities, senior centers, centers for youth-at-risk, and other social service organizations that support the disadvantaged, underserved, and marginalized. Following the two week tour at the end of November, MEASURE FOR MEASURE will play the historic Judson Memorial Church for one-week-only (December 6-11), with all tickets $15. THE MOBILE UNIT will represent a major expansion of The Public's Shakespeare Initiative and add to Shakespeare in the Park and Shakespeare at The Public a significant platform for The Public's ongoing exploration of Shakespeare's canon.

Michelle Hensley (Director) is the founder and Artistic Director of Ten Thousand Things Theater, where she has directed and produced over 40 tours to low-income audiences in prisons, shelters and housing projects, as well as for the general public. Most productions make local critics annual Top Ten lists, including Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan, Greek tragedies like The Furies, Electra and Antigone, The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol, Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, The Tempest, Cymbeline, Richard III and Twelfth Night, as well as musicals like The Unsinkable Molly Brown, The Most Happy Fella, Ragtime and The Little Shop of Horrors. Hensley has been awarded the Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship, a McKnight Theater Artist Fellowship, named City Pages Theater Artist of the Year and Best Director in multiple years (2001, 2004, 2006 and 2010), received a 2010 Ivey award (for Othello), and is a winner of the Francesca Primus Prize, an annual award given by the American Theater Critics Association for outstanding contribution to the American theater by a female artist.

Rob Campbell (Angelo/Pompey) has appeared at The Public in Singing Forest, As You Like It, King Lear, The Treatment, Him, In The Blood, and 365 Plays. Broadway credits include Translations and Ivanov. Select Off-Broadway and regional credits include Mad Forest, Hamlet, Small Tragedy, The Illusion, and Orphan of Zhao. He has also performed several seasons with Lake Lucille. Select film credits include Unforgiven, The Crucible, Hedwig & the Angry Inch, and Boys Don't Cry.

Carson Elrod's (Lucio/Barnadine/Froth) Broadway credits include Noises Off and Reckless. Off-Broadway credits include Oliver Twist and House/Garden. His film work includes Kissing Jessica Stein and Wedding Crashers. He has been featured on television's "30 Rock" and "Law and Order: CI." He is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect.

Meg Gibson (Duke) has appeared at The Public in King Lear, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, Casanova, Fen, and Temptation. Her other credits include Human Error at The Atlantic, Slipping at Rattlestick. Regional credits include ART, ATL, Mark Taper Forum, Long Wharf, Yale Rep, Huntington, Williamstown, and Westport Playhouse. She has appeared in such television and film as "Rubicon," "Law and Order," "Law & Order: SVU," "Sex and the City," Che, Dust, Night Listener, and Picture Perfect.

Shalita Grant (Esclus/Juliette) is a recent Juilliard grad and is happy to be working with The Public once again. Theatre credits include, but are not limited to The Winter's Tale, The Merchant of Venice, and Roxy Font. Film credits include Empire Corner and Invisible.

WILILAM Jackson Harper (Claudio, Elbow, Abhorson) has appeared Off-Broadway in A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick, Ruined, Queens Boulevard (the musical), Paradise Park, Microcrisis, The Children of Vonderly, and Rich Boyfriend. Television and film credits include "Law and Order," "Law and Order: CI," "The Electric Company," "Mercy," and All Good Thing. He is also a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre.

Ruy Iskandar (Provost/Friar) was last seen as Jean in Rhinoceros. Other New York credits include Purimcelo at Classic Stage, T'is Pity She's a Whore (Friar), The Storm (Kuligin), and Caridad Svich's new play, RIFT (Fatima). His regional Shakespeare credits include Twelfth Night (Antonio), King Lear (King of France).