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Theatre Review Measuring up to the heart of darkness

MAYER WAKEFIELD sees a brilliant updating of a Shakespeare 'problem' play to the present day

Measure for Measure
Donmar Warehouse, London

A NEW production of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, filled as it is with questions of sexual politics and justice, couldn't be more timely in the light of Brett Kavanaugh’s scandalous appointment to the US Supreme Court.

But Josie Rourke’s emphatic production at the Donmar Warehouse is far more than just a riposte to recent wrongs. Her clinical reworking of one of Shakespeare’s so-called problem plays resolves many of its contradictions and holds a mirror to personal and societal prejudices alike with a resonant clarity.

It is rare, if not unheard of, to see the same Shakespeare play performed twice in one evening, but Rourke gives the audience two almost identical five-act halves by butchering the text with the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel.

The first half is set in 1604, the year Measure for Measure is believed to have been written, and plays largely as originally written. Soundtracked with choral chamber music and with the cast in traditional 17th century dress, it would stand alone as a streamlined, worthy endeavour.

Hayley Atwell’s Isabel is vulnerable and engaging in equal measure as she suffers double betrayal at the hands of Vienna’s replacement ruler Angelo (Jack Lowden) and her desperate brother Claudio (Sule Rimi).

Yet this first rapid rendition merely sets the stage for a mind-bending second half which challenges 400 years of scholarly investigation into the much-contested work.

The sound of a shriek brings the first half to a sudden close and, before the lights fade, the action has been transported to 2018 and Atwell has gender-swapped to take the role of temporary city chief. It sounds contrived but proves to be anything but.

With the rest of the roles attuned to fit the new dynamic, we soon witness how an isolated Isabel is undermined by the patriarchal power structures surrounding her. When Lowden’s Angelo condemns Claudio to his unwarranted execution, it is met with stony silence but, when announced by Atwell’s Isabel, is greeted with degrading sniggers.

Remarkably, it is neither Atwell nor Lowden’s terrific portrayals that steal the show but Nicholas Burns. He propels the role of Duke Vincentio, usually portrayed as a perfunctory fixer, to the heart of the play with an alluring darkness.

It may not be for the purists, but Rourke’s adaptation feels like a cornerstone to which others may struggle to measure up.

Runs until November 24, box office: donmarwarehouse.com

 

 

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