Measure for Measure, Shakespeare’s Globe

In the cosy, candlelit setting of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, the Globe’s winter season kicks off with a new production of Measure for Measure. One of Shakespeare’s ‘problem plays’, which are too dark and complex to be considered straightforward comedies, the story explores sex and power through a plot riddled with disguises, trickery and eventual pleas for redemption.

When the Duke of Vienna leaves the city on a mission, he places it in the hands of Angelo, a harsh ruler with serious double standards. Sex out of wedlock is banned, with any caught perpetrators forced to pay the highest price: their life. When Claudio, an ‘upstanding gentleman’ impregnates his lover Juliet ahead of their wedding, he is sentenced to death. This leaves his sister Isabel, a nun-in-training, to plead with Angelo for his life. The corrupt ruler tries to strike a bargain with Isabel, asking for her virginity in return for sparing Claudio’s life. Fortunately, the Duke has secretly been watching the whole time, disguised as a Friar, and has other ideas.

Shakespeare’s Globe veteran Blanche McIntyre – who tackled another of the Bard’s problem plays, his tragicomedy The Winter’s Tale, at the venue in 2018 – directs the production, honing in on the story’s darkly comic elements and telling the story from the perspective of Isabel.

Also in the creative team is McIntyre’s regular collaborator James Cotterill (Botticelli in the Fire, Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet), who is in charge of design. McIntyre will likely draw out the dark and absurd elements of the narrative, while Cotterill can be expected to colour in the production with an intricately detailed, visually spectacular set.

Tickets to Measure for Measure are now on sale. Click here to book.