Measure For Measure review, Young Vic

Whorehouses and nunneries, betrothals and beheadings, welcome to raunchy Vienna where the women are all virgins, wives, widows, or whores. The racy blurb for Joe Hill-Gibbons' joyous production of Shakespeare's Measure For Measure delivers at every level. Never have so many oversized breasts and penises been bounced, splayed, thrown, and digitised on a single stage. Thankfully, and wonderfully, they belong to scores of blow up dolls which provide a rich backdrop of belly laughs - even when one of their number is decapitated and his head delivered in a bag.

I did Measure For Measure at A Level. I couldn't find anything funny then, in a plot that has an unbending and puritanical ruler, Angelo, effectively raping an unbending and puritanical nun, Isabella, while criminalising the libido and the desire of young men and women to have consensual sex. Isabella is asked to sacrifice her virginity to save the life of her brother Claudio. Claudio's on death row for impregnating his girlfriend. Meanwhile Angelo, who finds whores the ultimate turn-off, discovers during Isabella's pleading for Claudio's life, that wimples give him a hard on. Cue all sorts of moral shenanigans and the downfall of an emotional incompetent. Two hours fly by.

If this all sounds very serious, it is clearly so in intent, but as with so much of the Bard's work, it isn't necessarily so serious in terms of content. The big picture is dwarfed by the colourful detail in this Viz-like rendition with Romola Garai as the pious nun and Paul Ready as the increasingly sleazy Angelo. While they're slugging out the morality of the situation, the fun is happening around the edges with a sardonic raconteur of events, an American Pimp, and a stoned client in a Hawaiian shirt - it's hard to describe visuals, but with a stage of blow up dolls, there are many opportunities for silliness plus some great music tracks.

In conclusion: I'm not sure I took away what I was meant to from this production, but I came out with a big grin on my face, and so might you. The great cast includes John Mackay, Ivanno Jeremiah, Matthew Wynn, Tom Eden, Raphael Sowole, and Zubin Varla. And the dolls of course - another unexpected set from the brilliant designer, Miriam Buether.


References
Young Vic Theatre, Measure for Measure, Tickets
Photograph, Keith Pattison from guardian.co.uk

Young Vic Theatre, 66 The Cut, Waterloo, London SE1.    Run ends November 14