Overview
Vienna is corrupt. The Duke, who has let the city fall to vice, hands control to his Deputy, a hardline, puritan reformer.
The Deputy uses ancient laws to sentence citizens to death for sexual misconduct. But when a religious Novice pleads for clemency, their heady encounter leaves the Deputy guilty of the very crime that the law condemns.
Artistic Director Josie Rourke’s production of Measure for Measure imagines the play in its original year of performance, 1604, and also in 2018.
Within every performance, Hayley Atwell and Jack Lowden will alternate the roles of powerful Deputy and powerless Novice.
Critic reviews
Role reversal raises unsettling questions about gender and power
Measure for Measure makes for an enthralling few hours of theatre
Rourke’s high-concept production strives to make us think about hypocrisy, sex and power, but feels like an Everyday Sexism lecture
Intriguing but flawed attempt to explore issues of sex and power through the lens of Shakespeare
Sex, power and shock as Atwell and Lowden reverse roles
Shakespeare expertly retooled for the #MeToo era
Shakespeare’s play undergoes extra scrutiny in this intelligent double production
I could champion almost every actor in this innovative and highly effective juxtaposition of Shakespeare’s harrowing tale, and really hammer home its importance today
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