Liev Schreiber. Photo by Celeste Sloman
The USC School of Dramatic Arts (SDA) announced today that Tony Award winner Liev Schreiber will direct Measure for Measure as part of the School’s 2026–27 season. William Shakespeare’s dark comedy will run February 25-28, 2027, at the Bing Theatre on USC’s University Park Campus, with a cast of second-year MFA in Acting students and undergraduate performers drawn from across SDA’s degree programs.
“Learning from working professionals is the hallmark of a USC education. It’s how we ensure our artists not only learn the craft of acting, but are prepared to build lasting careers in an industry that is constantly evolving,” said Dean Emily Roxworthy. “Liev Schreiber is exactly the kind of multihyphenate artist who inspires our students: an actor, director, producer and writer who has sustained an artistic career across classical theatre, film and television. Having him in the rehearsal room with our students gives them a living example of the kind of long, varied career we want for them.”
For Schreiber, the opportunity begins with the play itself.
“Measure for Measure is a terrific play: complex, provocative and full of questions that still resonate,” said Schreiber. “I’m excited to dig into the text with the students, learn how they relate to its world and discover together what the play has to say to audiences today.”
Schreiber is a Tony Award-winning actor, director, producer and screenwriter whose career spans theatre, film and television. He earned an MFA from the Yale School of Drama (now the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale) and also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. His Broadway credits include the 2005 revival of Glengarry Glen Ross, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play, as well as Talk Radio, A View from the Bridge and the 2024 revival of Doubt, all of which earned him additional Tony nominations. His stage career also includes substantial work in classical theatre, notably the title role in The Public Theater’s 2006 Shakespeare in the Park production of Macbeth.
Schreiber made his feature film writing and directing debut with the 2005 adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Everything Is Illuminated. On television, he starred for seven seasons in the title role of Showtime’s Ray Donovan and later co-wrote, starred in and executive produced Ray Donovan: The Movie. He will next be seen in the Apple TV’s Nocturne, based on Lars Kepler’s Killer Instincts books and premiering October 30. Schreiber stars opposite Zazie Beetz and Stephen Graham as an ex-soldier-turned-detective seeking a quieter life in a small Pennsylvania town, only to find himself pursuing a ruthless serial killer. His screen credits also include Spotlight, The Manchurian Candidate, Defiance, The French Dispatch and Golda. He has received nine Primetime Emmy nominations and six Golden Globe nominations throughout his career.
Beyond the cast, student designers and stage managers, along with other production students, will contribute to the creative process.
“This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for our students at the USC School of Dramatic Arts,” Warshofsky said. “Liev’s interest in building an ensemble and empowering actors to take ownership of the work is completely in line with our approach to training. I can’t wait to see what they create together.”
Measure for Measure will run February 25-28, 2027, at the Bing Theatre on the USC campus.
Tickets will go on sale in January 2027. Visit https://dramaticarts.usc.edu for more information.