Taking the Measure of the Man

In 1966, Brian Murray was playing young Claudio in Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure” at the Bristol Old Vic. Director Tyrone Guthrie was disgusted with his own inability to crack the “engine” of the play, a ruler who hands over his corrupt kingdom to an overly strict surrogate and then roams through the land as a friar.

“‘Guthrie said: ‘I don’t understand the Duke; no one understands the Duke,’ ” Murray recalls. “I’ve been haunted by that ever since. For the past few years, I’ve wanted to play the role, partially because I was too old for Angelo [the governmental surrogate] and partially because of the challenge.”

Until the end of this month, audiences can judge for themselves whether Murray comes out on top. He’s playing the role at the Ahmanson Theatre, where he’s also portraying Bottom in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The repertory project is directed by Peter Hall, with whom Murray studied at the Royal Shakespeare Company in the early 1960s.

When it came to the enigmatic Duke, however, Murray’s mentor was equally baffled.

The actor plowed through books on Scotland’s King James I, on whom some believe the Duke is based. He also searched for clues that would counteract the moral ambiguity (“Whom do you root for?”) that makes this a so-called problem play.

“I found that someone who seems to be God is actually a frail human being, uncomfortable with confrontation,” says Murray, 61, taking a break in the Burbank apartment complex where he’s staying for the duration of the run. “Peter and I also decided that the Duke is tremendously shy. Tortured at the beginning, he grows into himself at the end.”

Portraying this aspect of the man, Murray says, is not much of a stretch. As an actor, he too finds comfort in the process of changing hats.

“Growing up a child actor in South Africa, I was painfully shy,” says Murray, an engaging, down-to-earth man, dressed in a plaid shirt and green shorts to combat the heat. “I would put on a cloak of invisibility, acting my way through social situations. And, like the Duke, I’ve always hated scenes. It’s the English thing: ‘One is embarrassed.’ ”

At 23, Murray and other “new blood,” including Ian Richardson and Diana Rigg, performed alongside RSC royalty: Sir John Gielgud and Dames Edith Evans and Peggy Ashcroft. One of the first things they were taught, he says, is that there’s nothing to fear in Shakespeare. Since then, he’s taken that lesson to heart, tackling roles ranging from Claudius in “Hamlet” to Falstaff in “The Merry Wives of Windsor” for the New York Shakespeare Festival and the Brooklyn Academy of Music Theater Company in addition to the RSC.

“John Barton, an associate of Peter’s, told us that Shakespeare is an actor’s best friend, a mentor who, if you can read his shorthand, whispers in your ear how to play a line,” Murray notes. “Still, the man is also a literary genius, a giant heart and mind. As my [“Measure”] colleague George Dzundza said, ‘No other playwright demands more of you all the time.’ ”

Murray found that out first hand in the Ahmanson assignment, playing two very different parts simultaneously. Critics who said he “approached greatness” as the Duke found him far less convincing as Bottom.

“I’m not making any excuses,” Murray cautions. “But I knew that playing the Duke would be sufficient, and that Bottom would divert my attention. Without the energy to find something new, I portrayed Bottom as a kind-hearted sort, the way Peter had always presented him. That was cheating, I suppose, but since both of my characters play two people, my double track was doubled.”

‘Opening Night Was Very Rough for Me’

Of all the work he’s done, the Duke was the hardest role to master. Without clarity of thought, he says, the clearest diction goes nowhere.

“My first few speeches are extremely convoluted verse and, halfway through, I switch to very complicated prose,” Murray says in his rich, rounded voice. “Opening night was very rough for me. Doing both plays in one day during our first five-show weekend, I messed up some of Bottom’s lines. I was on overload, genuinely frightened I wouldn’t get it down.”

As an “emotionally intense” actor, Murray identifies more with the introspective American style of performing than with the technical British approach. From the outset, he felt too “big and clutzy” for the London stage, he says, and, as a South African “colonial” (the son of a Scottish golf pro and an Irish dancer), like an outsider. He and Hall are taken with the “enthusiasm, passion and lack of smugness” American actors display, as well as with the heterogeneity that permits broader choices.

In 1964, he made his Broadway debut as Edgar in the RSC’s “King Lear.” Mike Nichols saw the play and cast him in “The Knack.” Though Murray wanted to make New York home, only 100 green cards were awarded to South Africans annually at the time. Not until the late 1970s did the actor make a permanent move. Three years ago, he applied for citizenship, to “give something back,” he says.

Being a versatile character actor, he’s convinced, has added to his longevity. In 1995 and 1996 alone, he starred in “The Entertainer,” “Entertaining Mr. Sloane,” “Molly Sweeney,” “Racing Demon,” “Travels With My Aunt” and “Da.”

Between Ahmanson performances, Murray is recording the voice of Long John Silver for Disney’s animated “Treasure Planet” (“Treasure Island” set in outer space). And he’s mulling Hall’s offer to cast him in 10 RSC productions about the Trojan War at the Denver Center Theatre Company next year.

The actor says he’s traveled a distance in the 33 years since he first appeared in “Measure.”

“At that time, I was concerned with learning to direct--and with making sure I was good,” Murray recalls. “I asked Guthrie if I was OK; he looked at me and shrugged. Now that I’ve directed a great deal and have more confidence in what I do, my goal is to be as rounded a person as I am an actor. It’s corny but true.”

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* “Measure for Measure” is playing at the Music Center’s Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., Thursday, Friday and Tuesday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is playing tonight, Saturday and July 28 through 31 at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday and July 29 and 31 and Aug. 1 at 2 p.m. Tickets: $15 to $52.50. (213) 628-2772.