Vienna is a society under pressure: war with Hungary; a brothel on every street corner, and the constabulary made up of misfits and undesirables. Duke Vincentio, the governor, believes that the city is in moral decline so he has enacted harsh laws to bring the people to their senses. However, as the play begins, we find him getting ready to leave Vienna and pass the unenviable task of the enforcement of these laws to his deputy, Angelo.

When Claudio makes his fiancée, Juliet, pregnant Angelo decides to bring down the full weight of the law upon him and condemn him to death in order to make an example of him.

Claudio's sister, Isabella, who is about to enter a convent as a novice nun, hears news of the sentence and hurries to Angelo to beg for mercy on behalf of her brother. Angelo denies her request but as she persists he is overwhelmed by lust for her and tells her he will think about it, and that she should return the next day to hear his verdict. She returns as he asks and he tells her that he will pardon her brother if she sleeps with him.

The Duke, in the meantime, has not left Vienna at all but disguised himself as an itinerant friar and is moving about among the people to observe the effect of Angelo's rule.

Isabella is horrified by Angelo's proposition and refuses him. She visits Claudio in prison and tells him about it, making it clear that she will not subject herself to Angelo's demands, and that he, Claudio, will have to die. The Duke overhears their conversation and suggests a solution to Isabella. He tells her that she should agree to Angelo's proposal but that he, the Duke, will try to persuade Mariana, who is the rejected fiancée of Angelo, to take Isabella's place and sleep with Angelo instead.

Mariana agrees to the deception but, even though Angelo believes that he has shared Isabella's bed, he still pursues his intention to have Claudio executed…

REVIEW

MEASURE FOR MEASURE
by William Shakespeare
presented by the Shakespeare at the George Trust. Directed by John Shippey.

The beautiful environs of The George’s Jacobean courtyard was the ideal setting for this production of Measure for Measure. I am not a fan of Shakespeare being ‘brought up to date’ in the terms of style and costume so John Shippey’s decision to set his production in the mid-seventeenth century suited me just fine.

Measure for Measure is sometimes termed as one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays”. This play certainly leaves one with more questions than answers. It is a play of double standards and hypocrisy At times it is cruel and even gruesome when a severed head bounces on to the stage.

In the city of Verona Duke Vincentio decides to leave the city in the hands of Lord Angelo. Angelo’s “little brief authority” immediately goes to his head and he revives an old law which requires fornicators to be put to death. This is bad news for young Claudio who has got his girlfriend Juliet pregnant and is to be put to death. His friend Lucio goes to get Claudio’s sister Isabella who is about to enter a convent as a novice and asks her to plead with Lord Angelo for Claudio’s life. Angelo turns out to be lascivious and morally corrupt asking Isabella to give up her virginity to him to save her brother’s life.

Ah! But the Duke hasn't gone away. He's disguised himself as a friar to gather intelligence about his city. He learns of Angelo's planned misdeeds and manages cleverly to stop the mayhem. The Duke makes certain that Angelo will be judged in the same way he judged others — measure for measure. The Duke insists on justice however, but he provides it in merciful form.

There were some fine performances and some good strong acting from this fine cast. In particular Richard Brown was excellent and believable both as the Duke and the Friar and Neal Dench gave us a lovely comic Lucio. Another enjoyable performance was from Phil Cox as Pompey aided and abetted by Suzanne Williams as a very over the top Mistress Overdone – if you can actually be over the top in that role. Charlotte Edwards gave a serene performance as Mariana but the accolades on the night belonged to Rosie Pankhurst who gave a fine performance as Isabella.

Other performances worthy of note were Paul Silver (Escalus), Mark Herbert (Provost), Ray Livermore (Elbow), all giving excellent support and Simon Maylor as Angelo, although I felt he could have had more empathy with Isabella. Amongst the smaller roles Oliver Scott as the unfortunate Claudio was very good as was Kevin Webb as Friar Thomas.

Excellent programme notes kept us on track if we lost our way through the plot and the whole thing was easy on the eye due mainly to the wonderful costumes by Jo Fradley; and on the ear thanks to the musicians Roy Bellass, Ruth Bramley and Oliver King.

One can always rely on a Shakespeare at the George production being ‘traditional’ in all respects.
Congratulations director John Shippey and all involved. See you next year for Love’s Labour’s Lost.

Reviewed by Julie Petrucci