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Reviews
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Measure for MeasureBy William Shakespeare Master of Play John Dove and Artistic Director Mark Rylance must have groaned when they heard that Complicite were to open a production of Measure for Measure at the National Theatre a month before their own offering. Inevitably, the Globe version would be compared with Simon McBurney's fireworks and they do not have the option of offering modern dress, let alone spectacular video effects. Pleasingly, this excellent production is able to hold its head high even in that august company.
While it is something of a star vehicle for Rylance in his role as the white-faced Duke, this enjoyable version is undoubtedly the hit of this Season of Star-Crossed Lovers. It greatly benefits from the director's light touch and careful reading of the text, so that the 2¾ hours fly by. The characteristic Globe production qualities are very much in evidence with sumptuous costumes exemplified by that of Colin Hurley's rascally Lucio, a spectacular puff of mustard and peach! Designer, Jenny Tiramani also goes overboard on hangings with tapestries and, at the finale, banners and flags. Throw in some pleasing entr'acte dance and a five-member band that includes curtal, sackbut, bagpipes, hautboy, Jew's harps and some excellent solo work from Emilia Benjamin on lyra viol, and one could have been transported back to the days of the first Queen Elizabeth. The pace rarely flags as Vienna almost comes to ruin at the hands of Liam Brennan's straight-backed, icy Puritan Angelo, a self-described tyrant cruel enough to draw hisses from the audience. Quite why the wise Duke should have given his state over to such an obviously evil man remains a mystery. Having done so, the action and comedy justify his decision - at least theatrically. The snivelling, cowardly Claudio (Alex Hassell) may have been unjustly imprisoned and condemned to death. However, when he tries to buy his life with the soul of his enviably pure but extremely emotional sister, Isabella, "a very virtuous maid" played by Sophie Thompson, one almost begins to feel that his fate is deserved. His survival owes all to a cunning plan seemingly hatched by a limping barefoot, bespectacled friar with a hotline to the shy Duke's wishes. The plotting is leavened by much fun especially from Peter Shorey playing Mistress Overdone as a panto dame and John Dougall's cocky Pompey. Possibly the most surprisingly modern conclusion is Shakespeare's jaundiced view of marriage. At the close, it is deemed a punishment worse than death. Sadly, the Bard prefigured what might be seen as a very twenty-first Century attitude to such a divine institution. Mark Rylance really dominates in his dual role and often has the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. He is well supported all round with Colin Hurley's master of the tall tale, Lucio, a worthy and most amusing sparring partner. It is difficult to compare the two South Bank Measure for Measures. While they are both dramas about temptation and sin, they are so polarised that these could almost be two different plays. It is enough to say that anybody seeing either will consider themselves lucky and both, more so.
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