“…Dear Isabella,
I have a motion
much imports your good;
Whereto if you'll a
willing ear incline,
What's mine is
yours and what is yours is mine.
So, bring us to our
palace; where we'll show
What's yet behind,
that's meet you all should know.”
To which Hayley Atwell’s Isabel turns to Duke Vincentio,
and screams!
This was no ordinary Shakespeare and in taking such
liberties with the text, was almost certainly not to the taste of many. Having
no familiarity with the play, I was surprised – once again – about how the
subject matter was so very now… almost as if, in the hands of a talented cast,
the words find their true mark even in our contemporary minds, removed from
their meaning by time and texting.
Measure for Measure
is about justice and the casual ways in which access to the law can be traded
for sexual favours: it’s a comedy but not really, this was a late-period play
under a new monarch that opened the lid on the ways of the world be it legal,
be it theatrical. Even Will may have had to turn a trick or two…
But, does this timeless tale of sexual give and take need
much updating? The first half played things out in traditional period style
with Hayley as Isabella fighting to save the life of her brother Claudio (Sule
Rimi) who has been harshly sentenced to death for infidelity by Justice Frederick
(Ben Allen) who has been placed in charge of legal judgement by Duke Vincentio
(Nicholas Burns), who, for reasons of his owns, has opted to drop out of sight as
a poor priest.
 |
| Nicholas Burns and Hayley Atwell |
The Duke wants to see how things work without his wisdom
and, sure enough soon finds Frederick being compromised by power as he suggests
to the chaste Isabelle that the only way to save her brother is to sacrifice
her honour to his lust. Now, hearing of this, the Duke/Priest hatches a plan to
substitute the Justice’s former betrothed, Mariana (Helena Wilson), who
willingly gives herself to the evil Fred in Isabella’s place, and the lecherous
lawyer doesn’t even notice…
Now all of this will come to a head once the Duke reveals
himself and there are neat Shakespearean ends all tied up as measure is swapped
for measure but… are they? The ending of the play is left open and we never know
if Isabella accepts the “reward” of the Duke’s love or, as here, throws it back
in his face.
Now, this is where it gets troublesome as not only does
Josie Rourke’s energetic production shift events forward to now, she re-runs
the narrative only this time with a power-dressed Atwell as Justice Isabelle
and Frederick as a meeker-than-Isabelle brother of Claudio. It works in part as
Atwell is simply outstanding in both halves but, overall, it’s game over in
that high-pressing opening hour with the cast overall far more convincing in
their original setting.
 |
| Modern role reversal: Ben Allen and Hayley Atwell |
You spend your time comparing before and after and whilst
Sule Rimi is equally impressive and Matt Barock’s Lucio equally outrageous, the
Duke and Frederick are a little lost in time. Isabelle is now the one with the power and I have to say that Atwell is most convincing in either role.
But, even before the trickery, the point is well made and that primal scream was
powerful enough to have settled any play.
Overall a very enjoyable production but it was hard to
reconcile the duality, however well-intentioned: I don’t feel that the view of
the modern half added anything fundamentally dramatic to the story we had
already watched.
IThankYouTheatre
Rating: ***1/2 Ms Atwell is a player with huge charisma and stage power and I would, literally watch her in
anything: she is magnetic.
 |
| Oh brother. Sule Rimi |
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