Photo Flash: First Look at Natascia Diaz, Kurt Rhoads and More in STC's MEASURE FOR MEASURE

The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC), recipient of the 2012 Regional Theatre Tony Award, presents a world in moral free fall with director Jonathan Munby's evocative vision of William Shakespeare's play, Measure for Measure. Munby's production, which places Shakespeare's story in a Fascist, late 1930s Europe steeped in cabaret culture, presents the dual nature of humanity as both tragic and comic. Measure for Measure will play at the Lansburgh Theatre (450 7th Street NW) from September 12-October 27, 2013. BroadwayWorld has a first look below!

Munby, who received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding Director for his production of The Dog in the Manger at STC in 2009, said he sees 1930s Austria as the perfect context to unlock Shakespeare's moral queries. The period, Munby related, "was an incredibly fertile time and an incredibly unstable time. On the one hand, you have this explosion of productivity in music, in visual arts, in literature. Psychoanalysis was being born during this period. But this creativity and liberation, while very joyful, was also very dangerous, perfect ground for the far right to seize power. Fascism was seen as a solution for a lot of problems, and indeed it was. Angelo's regime is also a kind of solution to a problem."

Munby's production, which heavily features music and dance, also asks what part religion and politics play in our lives and where people stand in relation to the two.

Measure for Measure is sponsored by Michael R. Klein and Joan I. Fabry.

To purchase tickets or to learn more, patrons can call the box office at 202.547.1122 or visit ShakespeareTheatre.org.

Photo Credit: Scott Suchman