Inclement weather brings the Bard in from the Yard for its third performance, so we are denied the feel of night falling around this ever-darkening social problem* play. Who knows if its first Globe Theatre performance (1604) enjoyed that aspect. No matter; the play stands up very well to simple staging in basic hall lighting.

Written (to the best of my knowledge) between All’s Well That Ends Well set in France and Florence, and Othello set in Venice and Cyprus, Measure For Measure, set in a Vienna still very influenced by Rome – given the names Shakespeare gives his characters – also explores the universal themes of love, lust, honour and moral hypocrisy.

Design-wise, director John Marwick has gone for an early 20^th century feel, with the Duke in a squat topper and the women un-bustled (excellent costuming by Carol Thompson and Pip Weston) and an art nouveau touch to the decoration of the two three-pronged mobile flats that are variously turned to create different settings and moods (designed by Elspeth Harris).

All hinges, however, on the text and the way the characters and their scenes are played out and I am happy to say every member of Marwick’s cast has a clear understanding of their intentions and a secure trust in both the Bard’s language and our capacity to ‘get it’ without their having to overstate the message or ‘camp up’ their roles.

Damian Reid is a strong Vincentio, Duke of Vienna. Aware he has been a bit lax in enforcing their strict laws against fornication, he claims to be off on a diplomatic mission, appointing the strict judge Angelo as his deputy.  Fortunately he hangs around, disguised as a friar, to monitor how this moralistic young man will handle his elevation to absolute power.  

Lee Dowsett finds an emotional immaturity in Angelo that makes his all-too-human fallibility very recognisable. His insistence on inflicting the law which “hath not been dead tho’ it hath slept” while wrestling with unfamiliar feelings of love – or is it just lust? – towards the a noviciate nun who pleads with him, therefore becomes more interesting than if he were just a malevolent prig.

Angelo has imprisoned Claudio (Patch Lambert) for getting his intended wife Juliet (Elizabeth Bruce) pregnant before they’ve actually married. Using this case to signal the law will now be strictly enforced, Angelo sentences him to death. It is Claudio’s sister, Isabella, who attempts to intercede and for whom Angelo falls.

Elspeth Harris is superbly centred and focused as Isabella, drawing us into every beat of her experience as Angelo abuses his position by setting her virginity, to be taken by him, as the price of sparing Claudio’s life (the first ‘measure for measure’). We cannot help but ask “what would I do?” as she confronts her moral dilemma and compels our empathy at every step, all too aware that her submitting to Angelo could get her pregnant too, and bastard children and their unwed mothers have no rights or support in this society.

As Lucio, the suave ‘man about town’ who first alerts Isabella to her brother’s problem, then proves to be a two-faced scoundrel as he defames the Duke to ‘Friar Lodowick’ and vice-versa, Will Clannachan has a charm that’s redolent of Peter O’Toole.

The remaining cast align around these central characters with a clear commitment to honouring the play’s objectives, with Sandra Gillespie (Escala), Fran Baldock (Mistress Overdone), Florence McFarlane (Pompey), Phil Saxby (Provost), Pip Weston (Francisca), Philippa Nicoll (Mariana, Barry Mawer (Abhorson) and Peter Baldock (Barnadine) acquitting themselves especially well.

The obligatory comic interludes notwithstanding, it is the intensifying drama that makes the production most memorable. When the clever stratagem designed to save Claudio without Isabella’s losing her honour goes awry, Duke Vincentio plays a ruthless endgame to get the full measure of Angelo’s hypocrisy. It plays out beautifully in this production, mesmerising the audience with its unpredictability before the hard-earned happy ending is achieved.

The first and last question one has to ask, with productions of classics especially, is: do we get the play? In this case, we certainly do.
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*Many commentators interpret ‘problem play’ as meaning it is dramaturgically problematical. I have always taken it to mean it dramatises a social problem, e.g. of class discrimination (All’s Well That Ends Well), moral hypocrisy (Measure For Measure), etc. Any thoughts on this?
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Although the term black comedy wasn’t around in Shakespeare’s day it is probably the most apt way to describe Measure for Measure with its mix of dark undertones and comedy. Many commentators have labelled it a “problem” play because of this mix, yet the darkness and humour add depth and texture to the play.

And although the over-written ending takes forever to resolve all the mistaken identities and love interests and the main characters turn out to be somewhat contradictory it is nevertheless an engaging story intelligently brought to life by director John Marwick and his strong cast.

While they need to loosen up and relax and give the action more aggression and the humour more comedy, through clear delivery of the lines and a good understanding of the language and complexities of the text, the story of Duke Vincentio and the decadence of Vienna slowly unfolds.

When the Duke (Damian Reid) decides to leave Vienna he puts a high ranking nobleman, Angelo (Lee Dowsett), in charge. Deciding to clean the city up, Angelo throws all fornicators into jail including Claudio (Patch Lambert) and his pregnant girlfriend Juliet (Elizabeth Bruce). Lucio (Will Clannachan) tries to get Claudio released but fails and so asks Claudio’s virgin sister Isabella (Elspeth Harris) to intervene. Only when Isabella succumbs to Angelo’s sexual demands will he listen. 

The Duke, disguised as a Friar, then returns to see how things are going. Not impressed with what he sees, he reveals himself and restores order. Interspersed through the story are comic scenes with Mistress Overdone (Fran Baldock) and Pompey (Florence McFarlane) that add light relief to the more serious moments in the play. 

In the lead role of the Duke Damian Reid is excellent, bringing presence and authority to the role that is totally engaging. Elspeth Harris’s also gives a fine performance as Isabella, totally convincing and believable and Lee Dowsett’s icy disdain contrasts well with his genuine feelings of emotion for Isabella.

The only aspect of the production that didn’t work was the setting. Although described in the publicity material as being fin de siècle Vienna, contrasting the Duke’s court with the brothels and prisons of the city’s underbelly with music, costumes and sets in the style of Toulouse Lautrec’s art nouveau world of the Moulin Rouge, this was never really apparent.  

But as it’s the language that is important with Shakespeare this production still comes across as a winner.

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