Jonathan Munby Talks about - Measure for measure

"Measure for Measure," uh, is known as one of Shakespeare's problem plays. Um, I think he gets that title because, um, it seems to be a hybrid, it seems to be, uh, both comic and tragic, uh, and I think the, the duality of it people find problematic. For me, it's, it doesn't feel problematic. It feels, actually, like one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. I, I really do think this is a masterpiece. Um, what Shakespeare offers us, I think, is a slice of humanity, and, as we know, life is both comic and tragic. It's both things simultaneously, and that's what Shakespeare gives us here in this play. He gives us something very funny at times, uh, and, I think, also tragic, um, uh, and it seems to be, uh, a perfect, uh, slice of life, where the human experience, um, is shown in close up. When the play begins, um, we see a world, uh, where the strict laws are not being adhered to, are being ignored, and, as a result, the word is, is in free fall, and vice rules. There's a moral debate at the center of it, concerning a character called Isabella, who is a novice nun, whose brother has been sentenced to death for getting a, a woman pregnant out of wedlock. The, the choice Isabella has is either, uh, to hold onto her chastity, or lose it to save her brother's life, and it's that moral dilemma, that question, that has stayed with me since I studied the, the play in high school. When I'm choosing a context, for, for any production, um, the question I always have is: What is going to release it? What is going to release the play in its central ideas most thrillingly, and, I think, immediately for a contemporary audience watching. There's something about this play and about how when the Duke hands over, um, uh, the power to Angelo, how the world changes, um, and "What is this new regime?" is a really central question. It strikes me that it feels not dissimilar, I think, to, um, fascism in some ways, and the rise of fascism in Europe, so within this production, what we're actually going to reference is the rise of fascism in Europe in the, in the 1930's. Um, there's something very similar, I think, to, uh, the lack of morality, um, and the wildness of Vienna, um, uh, and indeed Europe of the late '20's, the excesses in the late '20's. It's going to be a combination of, um, a lot of physical theatre, uh, and music, too, um, looking at underground jazz movement from the, from the '20's. Um, there's going to be a lot of music in this show, and, um, and I'm fascinated by Cabaret culture, um, and what grew out of that, um, so it's going to be very physical, it's going to be very musical. I think audiences should, should, expect uh, a production that's funny, um, and also a production that's tragic. This play is both things, and the production will be also, um, it's a really, a slice of human life, this play, and the production will certain, uh, deliver that.