Review: Measure for Measure (Royal Shakespeare Theatre)

Review by Raphael Kohn

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you’re looking to direct a comedy, then Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure would be an odd choice. For any director who isn’t Emily Burns, of course, who has taken the text and reinterpreted it in a new production on the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Turning its quasi-comedic tale into an unsettling reflection of political scandals and how men in power coerce women for their own gratification, this turns out to be more disturbing and perturbing than funny. Which is exactly the point, of course, made clearly in this sharp and polished production.

There’s certainly no uncertainty about this from the very first moments, using the back wall of the set as a canvas to remind us of such men. Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, and Prince Andrew all get their moments, with their denial, hypocrisy and sneering audacity acting as a real-world reference point for the rest of the production. Rather than a satirical comedy about men in power and moral policing, this is as much a cautionary tale about the state of the world as it is entertainment.

It certainly lives up to the play’s categorisation in the Shakespeare canon as a ‘problem play’ rather than the comedy it is sometimes performed as. Burns cuts the text down when needed, excising moments and plot threads to focus the play squarely on the political themes at play. Most is left intact, with the plot focussing on the court and people of Vienna, where the Duke Vincentio abdicates the rule to his second-in-command Angelo, who sets out enforcing his moral beliefs by imprisoning Claudio and Juliet for sex out of wedlock. Hypocritically, he attempts to solicit sex from Claudio’s sister, Isabella, in return for her brother’s freedom.

And so this somewhat-comedy becomes a somewhat-political thriller. Perhaps that’s where the ‘problem’ begins to rear its head. In transforming the play mainly through directorial intention and interpretation, Burns leaves some of the comedy in, resulting in a few moments of tonal mismatch confusing the play. It’s as if she’s almost there in her interpretation – but not all the way – and so her production competes with the text at times, rather than working with it. The interpretation at the core is exquisite, it just doesn’t always quite work fully, as if there’s a smattering of hesitance preventing her from unleashing her vision completely.

But that aside, the vision behind it all which still shines through is exquisite. Burns wants to shine a spotlight brightly on the men in society who abuse their power for their own gratification, using Shakespeare’s text to be completely clear that this is not a new phenomenon. ‘Who will believe thee?’, Angelo asks (in a detestably excellent performance from Tom Mothersdale), and sneers that his ‘false overweighs [her] true’ as he propositions Isabella and reminds her of the power dynamic in play. It all feels very Harvey Weinstein, very Donald Trump, and very Prince Andrew.

Meanwhile, there’s still the message that through everything that happens in the play, every man shows himself up in some way or another to be affected by toxic masculinity. Bursts of rage, anger and fury come from each in turn, from Adam James’ calm-yet-volatile Duke (with a tremendous twist that I can’t possibly spoil) to Oli Higginson’s outstandingly understated Claudio. The highlight, though, has to be Isis Hainsworth’s troubled and intricate performance as Isabella, excellently avoiding the trap of being simply a victim of the story.

To drive home Burns’ point about modern parallels (again, it’s not exactly a subtle theme in this production), she brings the setting straight into the modern day, complete with suits, LED strips and absolutely devoid of anything visually Shakespearean. Frankie Bradshaw’s set contains everything within an aluminium box, feeling claustrophobic and tense. It’s like sitting inside a bomb waiting to go off, constantly feeling that impending, looming danger.

When the danger no longer impends but exists in plain sight, it’s almost sickening. In a twist of satirical edginess, Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ becomes a vomit-inducing soundtrack to one of the most uncomfortable scenes of the play, remitting only to return in an a capella chorus, as if a religious sect were backstage and chastising the characters. In the second half, as the action reaches its peak, two camera operators enter and provide live close-ups to the actors’ facial expressions unrelentingly. Burns knows she’s telling this story in excruciating detail, and it’s both horrendous and riveting.

It might not be what Shakespeare intended with the play originally, but it’s definitely what we need in 2025. Hell, it’s what we needed decades and decades before. But as the Epstein files are still hidden behind closed doors over the pond in the USA and the #MeToo movement continues to ripple through the media, this timely and captivating production certainly earns its place on the stage.

Measure for Measure plays at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre until 25th October 2025. Tickets from https://www.rsc.org.uk/measure-for-measure/

Photos by Helen Murray