Measure for Measure

RSC Stratford upon Avon

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Shakespeare’s Most Underrated Play Confronts Today’s Politics

Measure for Measure is one of Shakespeare’s most underrated plays and I implore everyone to see it. Despite the cuts and shifted text this rendition does well to challenge us to consider what is right by law against societies moral code.Director Emily Burns does well to contemporise the themes into our political age, although falls short of truly conveying the moral conundrum at hand. The stakes should be raised far beyond the consequence of being disgraced in the media but should consider what it truly means to face a choice between life and death.

The comic side has once again been underestimated and unfortunately cut. The absence of Vienna's lude streets, brothels and characters such as Pompey and Mistress Overdone go a long way to depict the dark underworld to contrast the court and it softens the full impact of Isabella’s plight and Angelo’s tyranny.Despite this the cast is strong. Isis Hainsworth plays an intelligent and caring Isabella. The bulk of the comedy is found in Angelo, Tom Mothersdale is brilliant at playing an intelligent yet awkward demeanour.

Every Shakespearian Act 5 should be delivered at pace yet here there is too much breath allowing the audience to skip ahead rather than be driven by the drama the Duke invokes. Isabella's choice at the end of the play is one of the most intriguing unanswered question Shakespeare ever asks. In this case it is answered with a contradiction to the characters core beliefs. Despite its flaws, this Measure for Measure is worth seeing. It challenges us to consider what is right by law versus what is right by conscience. But there is still much more to be explored in the depths of the text and the complexities of its characters.

Jonathan Lauren