Gretchen McGinty (Isabella) in “Measure for Measure.”Photo by Austin Caine

This weekend is your last chance to see “Measure for Measure” produced by the Charlotte Shakespeare Festival. The final three shows are August 22 and 23 at 8 p.m., and August 24 at 3 p.m. at the Booth Playhouse. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged.

“Measure for Measure” is one of Shakespeare’s comedies, but this one much darker and more cynical. It features secret identities and manipulations as the Duke, who is the master of ceremonies in the story played by actor Robert Lee Simmons, weaves a web of intrigue and secret plans around the subjects of Vienna. Young novice Isabella, played by Gretchen McGinty, is drawn into this web through the acting mayor of Vienna, Angelo, played by Christian Casper, who makes an indecent proposal to Isabella in exchange for saving her brother.

Tiger Reel, the founding artistic director of Action! Theatre in LA, directs this play, finding inspiration from the exploitation films of the 1970s. As to why Reel choose this period: “The disillusionment and fallout in America in the 1970s seemed to be an appropriate context for Shakespeare’s darkest of comedies. The fallout from the Vietnam War and Watergate, the seedy, corrupt nature of politics, the dark fun of the 1970s grindhouse/Blaxploitation films and their soundtracks all seemed to fit the story of a large city in the grip of a moral struggle.”

“Measure for Measure.”

Booth Playhouse: 130 N. Tryon St. (in Founder’s Hall at the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets), Charlotte