Measure for Measure

Synopsis

In a dark and sinful city, where fear prevails, no one is safe - not even those who have given their lives to God. Isabella is a novice nun, committed to her vows of chastity. Claudio her brother enjoys the company of prostitutes and pleasures of the flesh. In a city where vice is rife, Duke Vincentio has lost control and disappears from public life leaving his cousin Angelo to rule in his place. Angelo begins by reinstating old laws long forgotten...laws that condemn those to death for having sex outside of marriage. It is not long before Claudio is caught. When Claudio summons Isabella to his aid however, Angelo himself is tempted to fall and presents Isabella with an impossible choice; perpetual damnation or her brother's life?

Our Review:

7 May 2003

It couldn't last. The opening of The Taming of the Shrew and The Tamer Tamed at Stratford brought the RSC some of its best notices in recent memory. The arrival of its latest offering, Shakespeare's "dark" and "difficult" comedy, Measure for Measure, has received a mixed welcome.

But the fault, and fault there is, lies less with the production by Sean Holmes - whose recent The Roman Actor won deserved acclaim, than with the play itself. Put simply, Measure is an unattractive play whose principal characters are themselves, deeply unlovable. What is said of Angelo could be said of all - their "very blood is snow-broth."

The Duke of Vienna has allowed his citizens to lapse into loose morals but cannot punish them for his laxity. He resolves to appoint Angelo, his virtuous deputy, as leader and, under the pretence of travelling abroad, stays behind and, disguised as a friar, watches what ensues. What fo...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (217.158.145.178) - 25 September 2003:

I'm not usually a fan of "modern" dress. The aim seems to be to reproduce a "post-war" Vienna (a la "The Third Man"). I thought it worked OK. I think the outstanding performance is Paul Higgins as the Duke....

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