Shake it to the lake for Shakespeare

The Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival offers complementary comedies: Much Ado About Nothing is “mostly sunny,” Measure for Measure is “darkly ambiguous.” But while the mood differs, there are many ingredients in common. Meddling priests (trying to patch up prominent weddings that fell through), dimwitted constables, nasty manipulators and the personal consequences of sex outside marriage drive both stories. Much Ado, of course, features a spirited verbal battle of the sexes, concluding with a hymn to matrimony. Measure is dominated by a grim struggle over a coercive sex-for-clemency deal bluntly offered by a corrupt public official who is outwardly righteous (a truly timeless theme). True, Measure also ends in weddings, but they’re enforced, as “just desserts.” These thoughtfully directed shows are the only professionally staged Shakespeare anywhere near Sacramento during August.