Article updated: 3/21/2013 9:41 AM

Risk pays off in Goodman's daring, disco-era 'Measure'

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The Duke (James Newcomb) comforts Juliet (Celeste M. Cooper) before the impending execution of her fiancee in Robert Falls' 1970s New York-inspired take on Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.

Courtesy of Liz Lauren/Goodman Theatre

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The deputy Angelo (Jay Whittaker) sits back after making an untoward advance on the novice nun Isabella (Alejandra Escalante) in Robert Falls' 1970s New York-inspired take on Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.

Courtesy of Liz Lauren/Goodman Theatre

Isabella, a novice nun (Alejandra Escalante), prays in the opening sequence of Robert Falls' 1970s New York-inspired take on Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.

Courtesy of Liz Lauren/Goodman Theatre

The Duke (James Newcomb) goes incognito as a priest amid the moral urban decay in Robert Falls' 1970s New York-inspired take on Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.

Courtesy of Liz Lauren/Goodman Theatre

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Throbbing Donna Summer disco hits bookend director Robert Falls' provocative new Goodman Theatre production of William Shakespeare's “Measure for Measure,” which has been smartly reset to seedy New York City in the late 1970s. Admittedly, those who love traditional Elizabethan Shakespeare stagings will be aghast. Early on, Falls throws in simulated sex acts, nudity and drug use to fill Walt Spanger's stunningly realized garbage-strewn and graffitti-tagged set that buzzes with suggestive neon and florescent signs.