Measure for Measure Resource Pack.qxp - Almeida Theatre

Victoria Lloyd, David Killick, Rory Kinnear and Ben MilesPhoto: Keith PattisonMeasure for Measure was written by William Shakespeare in 1604.Vincentio, the Duke of Vienna, is dismayed at the sex trade, rife in his city. He decides to giveup his authority and place it temporarily in the hands of his deputy, Angelo. The Duke makesit known that he intends to leave the city on a diplomatic mission, but instead remains,disguising himself as a Friar, to observe the course of his events during his supposedabsence. Angelo is known to be a hard-liner on matters of sexual immorality and is chargedwith getting law and order back on track.One of the first acts of the new regime is the arrest of Claudio, who has made his girlfriendpregnant. Claudio is condemned to death, under an old, overlooked law. His sister Isabella,herself about to enter a very strict convent, goes to Angelo pleading for her brother’s life. Theaustere Angelo finds himself sexually attracted to her and at their second meeting, agrees tofree Claudio, but only if Isabella has sex with him. Isabella is horrified, refuses, and goes totell her brother.A whirling plot of illusion and deception emerges, masterminded by the Duke, and centringaround a ‘bed trick’ entrapping Angelo by his own vice. Angelo’s jilted sweetheart, Mariana,will go in place of Isabella to the assignation so that, having consummated their relationship,Angelo will be forced to marry her.The Duke ‘returns’, and there is a public showdown at the city gates. Deception by deceptionis revealed to a baying crowd. The Duke threatens to execute Angelo as recompense for hishypocritical execution of Claudio, but Mariana persuades Isabella to plead for Angelo. Angelois forced to marry Mariana. The Duke’s revealed dual identity lands Lucio in trouble. Hispunishment, like Angelo's, is to be forced into an undesired marriage: in his case with anotable whore. Claudio is revealed to be alive, and the Duke proposes marriage to Isabella,although in the famous last moments of the play, she remains silent…Introduction to the PlayA detailed plot synopsis follows.Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 5

CharactersVINCENTIO, THE DUKEBen MilesVincentio is the Duke of Vienna. Unable or unwilling to dealwith the debauchery that has overtaken his city, he decides toleave it for a while. He entrusts one of his deputy to governVienna in his absence. Vincentio is a paradoxical character,oscillating between virtue and vice, as well as his shunningfrom his political responsibilities. In the end, what will heprove to be, a virtuous or, a vicious man?ANGELORory KinnearAngelo is the nobleman upon whom the Duke bestows hispowers in his absence. Angelo is reputed for his virtue andhonour, but also his hardline attitude towards sexual matters.However, after meeting Isabella, he falls prey to lust and isforced to confront his own burgeoning sexual desire in theface of the strict law he imposes. Will he live up to hisreputation?ESCALUSDavid KillickEscalus is an ancient Lord advisor, from a much differentgeneration to Angelo. Escalus appears to be moderate when itcomes to judge Vienna's people, representing a middle waybetween Angelo's strict application of the law and the Duke'sleniency. He is often the voice of measured ‘common sense’in the play, and the famous speech ‘some rise by sin, andsome by virtue fall’ is his.CLAUDIOEmun ElliotClaudio is a young gentleman who illegally impregnated hisfiancée outside of wedlock (though they were due to bemarried on securing a dowry). He is a victim of Angelo'stough new regime, being the first against whom the laws areto be strictly applied. Claudio is known to be a good, uprightgentleman, to whom honour matters. Yet the threat of deathforces him to compromise his values and his sister, Isabella’strust, though he is quick to beg for forgiveness.6Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

LUCIOLloyd HutchinsonLucio is described in the script as a Fantastic. An irreverentand loud fellow, he is a loyal friend of Claudio and endeavoursto save his friend from Angelo’s punishment. However, hisloyalty is not universal and soon his brashness and doubledealinglead him into hot water, as he plays the Duke offagainst the Friar. He once got the notable whore KateKeepdown pregnant, but denied the fact in court.POMPEYTrevor CooperPompey is a servant to Mistress Overdone and is somethingof a wise fool, as he comes up with surprisingly witty remarks,amidst his frequent digressions. He has little respect for thelaw and its authority, not believing that you can legislateagainst the sex trade. He is imprisoned for being a bawd andremains irreverent and bold to the end. He frequentlyprovides comic relief.CharactersISABELLAAnna Maxwell MartinIsabella is Claudio' sister, and one of Shakespeare’s mostcomplex and passionate heroines. Not only is Isabellabeautiful and virtuous but she is also a first class orator. Atonce compassionate and something of an extremist, she hasa strict moral attitude and at the start of the play is about toenter an austere convent, the Order of Saint Clare, whichforbids contact between the sexes. Claudio beseeches her totry to convince Angelo to withdraw his sentence. Isabellastruggles to align her moral beliefs with her love for Claudio.MISTRESS OVERDONEFlaminia CinqueMiss Overdone is a businesswoman who runs brothels in thecity of Vienna. Her main concern is to keep her businessgoing, hence her distress at Angelo's strict application of thelaw jeopardising her livelihood. Despite her ‘immoral’ trade,she shows good judgment of character in her concern forClaudio and a pragmatic attitude towards morals and theapplication of the law.Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 7

CharactersELBOWTony TurnerElbow is a constable as such a representative of the State. Heis a rather ignorant fellow and far from being quick-witted. Nowonder the laws are not enforced properly when enforcementis left in such hands!MARIANAVictoria LloydMariana is Angelo's former betrothed. When Angelo foundout her dowry was lost at sea, he made allegations thatMariana had been sexually loose, and used this, instead of thedowry, as a reason to call off their marriage. Despite this poortreatment and suffering she has experienced, she is still verymuch infatuated with Angelo and waits for him, hoping hewill return to her.BARNADINESean KearnsBarnadine is a rough, crude criminal and who has beencondemned to death. He is unrepentant and even refuses tobe hanged, claiming not to be in a fit state of preparationafter a heavy night drinking. He provides comic reflection onthe application of the law in Vienna, and a moral contrast toClaudio - the two are to be executed together.ABHORSONMark MoneroAbhorson is the executioner, a rather crude and artlesscharacter but one who takes his job very seriously, believingadamantly that the art of execution is ‘a mystery’.8Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

FRIAR PETERAndrew FrenchFriar Peter is a priest, who helps the Duke to remain incognitoin Vienna.FRANCISCAJessica TomchakFrancisca is a good, abiding nun, who lives in the conventIsabella wishes to enter.PROVOSTDavid AnnenThe Provost is a figure of justice, one who applies the law inVienna, to the letter. He is instructed in his office by the Dukeand Angelo. He is an upright and honest man, often verytaciturn in scenes, but remains a moral presence.CharactersJUSTICENick RichardsThe Justice is an upholder of the law, and says few, but oftenpoignant, words, on the application of justice.FROTHSean KearnsFroth is a foolish gentleman, acquaintance of Pompey, andsomething of a dandy. He is arrested for being found in abawdy house.JULIETDaisy BoultonJuliet is Claudio's aggrieved fiancée, who fears for her fiance'slife. She is open of her love for Claudio, and that the ‘sin’resulting in her pregnancy was a mutual one, but repents it,as a sin. She takes a certain moral high ground and retainsvirtue, believing her pregnancy not to be a true criminal act.Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 9

Plot SummaryLloyd Hutchinson and Emun ElliotPhoto: Keith PattisonIf Vienna be of worthTo undergo such amplegrace and honour,It is Lord Angelo.ACT ONEScene 1The play begins with the Duke, Vincentio, addressing Escalus, asenior lord in the court. He announces that he will leave Vienna for atime and calls forth Angelo, in whom he invests his full authority togovern the city in his absence; he then appoints Escalus as Angelo'ssecondary. Angelo is initially reluctant to take up this challenge,asking whether a test of his ability beforehand would better deemhim worthy of the role; but the Duke assures him of his choice - thatthere is no better man than Angelo to rule the city and apply its lawsin his place. The Duke seems anxious to depart and wants to make aquiet exit, avoiding the gaze of his subjects, the citizens of Vienna.He gives no information to Angelo or Escalus about hiswhereabouts, or why and for how long he will be gone but promisesto write to them with any news. The Duke leaves. Escalus enquires ofAngelo how he will fit in with the new order, and Angelo promises tothis with him anon.EscalusAct One, Scene 1Scene 2Lucio is jesting with two other gentlemen until they are joined by abrothel-keeper, Mistress Overdone. They joke about venerealdiseases and their knowledge of her bawdy house. She tells themthat Claudio has been taken to prison for getting his bethrothedgirlfriend, Juliet, pregnant. For this crime, under Angelo's newhardline regime, he will executed in three days. The gentlemen leaveto investigate this rumour. Pompey, a tapster, enters, and confirmsthat Claudio has been taken to prison for fornication. He also tellsMistress Overdone that all the brothels in Vienna are to be closeddown, and she is fearful of her livelihood. Pompey suggests shechange her trade to an innkeeper and carry on trading under thisnew banner. They leave, and Claudio enters under arrest, with theProvost, Juliet and Lucio. The Provost informs them that he is actingon Angelo's orders, to fulfil the law. Claudio pleads that he was allbut married to Juliet but they had not yet had the formal ceremony,as they were awaiting a dowry from their friends. Claudio blames his10Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

Anna Maxwell Martin and Lloyd HutchinsonPhoto: Keith PattisonMistress O. Well! What has hedone?Pompey A woman.Mistress O. But what’s his offence?Pompey Groping for trouts, in apeculiar river.Act One, Scene 2arrest on Angelo's hardline, uncompromising approachto matters of a sexual nature, and imposing hisauthority on the city; whereas under the Duke's rule, thelaw pertaining to sex outside wedlock was long sinceoverlooked. Claudio suggests sending word to the Dukeand seeking his interevention in the case, but Claudioinsists that no one knows where he is. Instead, he urgesClaudio to find his sister, Isabella, who is about to enterinto a convent. She is known to be virtuous and havestrong powers of persuasion. Lucio promises to find her.Scene 3In Friar Peter's cell, the Duke explains to the Friar hisreasons for placing Angelo in charge, a man of 'strictureand firm abstinence', who can bring the old, neglectedlaws back into force. Friar Peter suggests that it wouldhave been more impacting for the Duke to apply theselaws himself, but the Duke feels that after years of rulingso liberally, this would have been interpreted as atyranny. Instead, he explains that he will remain inVienna, in disguise, to observe Angelo. He requestsfrom Friar Peter a friar's habit as disguise and tuition infriar-like behaviour. His final lines imply his curiosity athow Angelo will manage the situation.Scene 4At the convent, Isabella is in conversation withFrancisca, a nun, about the privileges allowed tomembers of the order of Saint Clare. Franciscamisunderstands Isabella to be keen for more freedom,however Isabella is actually wanting more strict restraint.Lucio enters, interrupting their dialogue. He tellsIsabella of Claudio's arrest and Juliet's pregnancy. Whilstshe disapproves of the deed, Isabella's response is thatClaudio and Juliet should marry straight away - she hasindeed known Juliet since childhood, they are practically'cousins' already, albeit unrelated by blood. Lucio insiststhat this is now impossible, as under Angelo'sgovernment, Claudio is now sentenced to death. Hespeaks of Angelo as a cold-blooded creature, with anaversion to sensual pleasure. Lucio urges Isabella toplead to Angelo to pardon her brother. She is reluctantto try to petition against too hard a ruler, but she agrees.Plot SummaryACT TWOScene 1Angelo and Escalus enter the court room, with theJustice. Escalus tries to suggest leniency towardsClaudio, but Angelo is adamant that the law is the law,and must be followed to the letter. The Provost entersand Angelo orders him to prepare Claudio for death thefollowing morning at 9 o'clock. Escalus despairs at thehard line approach, implying that he believes thepunishment much in excess of the crime. In contrast toResource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 11

Plot SummaryRory KinnearPhoto: Keith Pattisonthis austere start to the scene, Elbow, a foolishconstable, enters, providing comic relief. Elbow hastwo prisoners in tow, Pompey and Froth. He proceedsto tell Angelo and Escalus of their crimes, but beingmuch given to malapropisms, makes a mockery of theprevious legal debate. Pompey speaks to defendhimself, but digresses and eventually turns hisaccusation round to question the virtue of Elbow'swife. Angelo becomes exasperated and makes a swiftexit from the court, leaving Escalus in charge. Escalusdismisses Froth and enquires with Pompey about histrade as a bawd. Pompey responds somewhatirreverently, but remains pragmatic in his argumentthat banning prostitution will just not work, because itwould mean repressing natural human urges, needingto 'geld and splay all the youth of the city'. Escalusdismisses him with a warning - which Pompey showsno sign of heeding. Escalus speaks to Elbow andsuggests that another citizen relieve him of theburden of his role as constable. He then speaks to theJustice, who has been silent throughout the scene,inviting him to dine with him. The Justice says fewwords, but his line 'Angelo is severe' marks apoignant end to the scene where the practicalities ofexerting 'justice' have been tested. Escalus brieflyattempts to defend Angelo's policy, but closes thescene with a mournful recognition of the severepunishment of 'poor Claudio'.We must not make a scarecrow of the law,Setting it up to fear the birds of prey,And let it keep one shape till custom make itTheir perch, and not their terror.AngeloAct Two, Scene 1Scene 2In a neighbouring room, Angelo reiterates Claudio'spunishment by execution to the Provost. The Provosttries to explain to Angelo that he may regret exactingthis punishment in time, when it is too late, butAngelo is firm and threatens to appoint a new Provostif he will not do the job. Angelo arranges for Juliet tobe given the means to raise the child - 'needful, butnot lavish'. Isabella and Lucio enter. The Provostmakes to leave but Angelo bids him stay. Reluctantly,Isabella begins to plead to Angelo for leniency withClaudio. Angelo repeats his commitment to punishhim, and Isabella seems ready to give in. HoweverLucio urges her on, telling her to heat up herreasoning, to exert more pressure on Angelo. Shedoes so, taking up the argument again with morepassion, but Angelo remains fixed that the law mustneeds be enforced. However, as Isabella's speechbecomes ever more ardent, Lucio and the Provostboth witness her words having more effect on thecold Angelo. Finally, Angelo weakens and tells Isabellato return the following day. In a soliloquy at the closeof the scene, Angelo speaks of the sexual desire thatIsabella has awakened in him, understanding for thefirst time the power of desire to make peoplevulnerable.12Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

Rory Kinnear, Anna Maxwell Martin andLloyd HutchinsonPhoto: Keith PattisonScene 3In this short scene, The disguised Duke tells the Provost that hewill be visiting the prisoners, in the guise of charity as a friar. Hequestions her about Claudio. Juliet tells him that she loves Claudioand that the crime of sex was mutually committed, although she isalso repentent of having committed a crime. On hearing ofClaudio's punishment by death, she is horrified.Plot SummaryI speak not as desiringmore, / But ratherwishing a more strictrestraint / Upon thesisters stood, the votaristsof Saint Clare.IsabellaAct Two, Scene 4Scene 4Angelo is waiting for Isabella to visit again, and delivers asoliloquy, ill at ease, debating with himself on the struggle betweenphysical desire and self-restraint. Isabella enters, yet she is calmand passively waits for Angelo to tell her his decision. He tells herthat Claudio cannot live. She is resigned, and makes to leave.However, Angelo continues. He is uncharacteristically vacillating inhis speech but eventually gets to the point, offering Isabella achoice between her brother's execution and her yielding her bodyto 'such sweet uncleanness' as Claudio is being punished for.Isabella does not understand him and continues to plead forClaudio's life. Angelo reiterates his terms in clearer words, spellingout that Isabella must give up her body to him in return for herbrother's life. Isabella is aghast, and responds vehemently thatClaudio's death would be more bearable than carrying the eternaldamnation of the sin that Angelo is proposing. Angelo challengesher that she is willing to plead for Claudio's life after he committedthe same crime, but Isabella argues back that her greater love ofher brother excused the crime. Angelo tells Isabella that he lovesher, and Isabella retorts that this is the very crime for which herbrother is condemned to death. She desperately tries to regaincontrol of the scene, threatening to go public about Angelo'sindecent proposal. However Angelo coldly counters that no onewould believe her - whereas his virtue and unblotted reputation iswell known, no one will take her word over his. He urges her torethink, as Claudio's death will be the result of her refusal of him.Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 13

Plot SummaryBen Miles and Emun ElliotPhoto: Keith PattisonHe orders her to return the following day with an answer, andleaves. Isabella is quietened, and in a final soliloquy, resolves tovisit her brother in prison and confide in him of Angelo's proposal,counting on his support.ACT THREEYes, brother, you may live;There is a devilish mercy in thejudge,If you’ll implore it, that will freeyour life,But fetter you till death.IsabellaAct Three, Scene 1Scene 1This long scene sets up the core theme of illusion and reality in theplay, through the 'bed trick', which leads to the ultimatedenouement. The scene opens with the disguised Duke inconversation with Claudio, urging the prisoner to prepare for hisdeath. The Duke as friar delivers a long, reflective speech about theworthlessness of life and the folly in holding it dear. Claudio thankshim for his counsel and admits that he is resigned to die. Isabellaenters and the Duke (friar) makes to leave, however he agrees withthe Provost to conceal himself outside the cell, so as to overheartheir conversation. Isabella begins by comforting her brother with areminder of the trip to heaven following his death. He enquires,knowing she has visited Angelo, if there is any alternative to hisdeath. She admits that there is, but at a very high price; and sheexplains Angelo's proposition. Claudio initially agrees that Isabellashould not sacrifice herself in this way, but gradually, the realisationthat there is a way out of execution begins to take hold, andeventually he suggests that it would not be a sin to save his life.Isabella is furious at his suggestion and leaves. However the Duke(friar) intervenes to catch her as she is leaving, revealing himself ashaving eavesdropped on their discourse. First he tells Claudio thathe has heard Angelo's confession and knows that his proposal toIsabella is merely a trick, with no hope of Claudio's sentence beinglifted - he needs to prepare himself for imminent death. Claudiopleads forgiveness from Isabella.The Duke (friar) then reveals to Isabella a plan to resolve the14Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

David Killick and Flaminia CinquePhoto: Keith Pattison‘Twas never merry worldsince, of two vices, whoredomand usury, the merrier wasput down, and the worseallowed by order of law; afurred gown to keep himwarm; furred to signify thatcraft, being richer thaninnocence, justifies deception.PompeyAct Three, Scene 2situation: Angelo had been engaged to marry a woman,Mariana, but broke off the engagement upon hearing thatshe had no riches, when her dowry was lost at sea, yet heused the guise of rumours of Mariana's sexual immoralityas an excuse, thus shaming her. But despute Angelo'scruelty, Mariana retains love for her former fiance. TheDuke (friar) proposes that Isabella agree with Angelo'sscheme, and arrange a place for them to meet, dark andshady, but they will get Mariana to go along in their place.This would solve two issues: first, sparing Isabella thesin, and second, putting pressure on Angelo to marryMariana, having been revealed to have slept with her.Isabella agrees to go along with the plan.Scene 2Elbow enters, with the still unrepentant and irreverentPompey, and officers. They encounter the Duke (friar) andthis gives the Duke the opportunity to address one of hisreprobate subjects. His denunciation of Pompey is severeand uncompromising, revealing some real anger at thesex trade rife in his city. Lucio enters, and there is somebanter with Pompey, though he ultimately refuses to bailPompey. The officers and Elbow escort Pompey to prison.Lucio then engages the 'friar' in conversation, and theyboth agree that Angelo is too harsh. Lucio then setsabout criticising the Duke's laxity in matters ofgovernance. The Duke (friar) attempts to defend'himself', but Lucio claims to be an intimate of the Dukeand therefore knows better of his loose ways. Hecontinues that the Duke was thought of to be not at allwise, but 'very superficial, ignorant, unweighing'. TheDuke (friar) makes sure to find out Lucio's name. Theconversation then moves on to Claudio's fate, but againLucio blames this on the Duke's misrule. Lucio leaves,and the Duke expresses anger at what Lucio has revealedto be thought of his character.Mistress Overdone enters, under arrest, with officers andEscalus. She begs Escalus for mercy, but he is adamantthat she is a criminal. Mistress Overdone blames Luciofor informing on her, and makes a counter-accusationthat he has fathered a child with the notable whore, KateKeepdown. Escalus sends Mistress Overdone off toprison and orders for Lucio to be summoned to answerthe accusation. The disguised Duke and Escalusconverse, and the Duke (friar) wonders that the world isin such a critical condition because goodness (marcy)seems in such short supply. He then questions Escaluson the Duke's character, and receives a far moresatisfactory answer than Lucio's damning report - Escalusnotes the Duke's temperance and modesty. They brieflydiscuss Claudio's imminent death. Escalus leaves and theDuke's final soliloquy reflects on Angelo's hypocrisy, andthe need to employ 'craft against vice' to bring about asatisfactory and fitting resolution.Plot SummaryResource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 15

Plot SummaryAnna Maxwell Martin and Ben MilesPhoto: Keith PattisonJustice, O royal Duke! Vail your regardUpon a wrong’d - I would fain havesaid, a maid.O worthy prince, dishonour not your eyeBy throwing it on any other object,Till you have heard me in my truecomplaint,And given me justice! Justice! Justice!Justice!IsabellaAct FiveIsabella addresses the Duke, pleading hard for himto hear her story and give her 'justice'. The Dukeresponds that she should seek this from Angeloinstead. Angelo steps forward and indicates to theDuke that he fears for Isabella's sanity. Isabelladenounces Angelo as an 'adulterous thief, anhypocrite, a virgin-violator'. The Duke dismisses herbut then her story seems to gain his interest andshe goes on to give him the details of Claudio'sdeath. Lucio repeatedly attempts to intervene, eachtime silenced abruptly by the Duke. The Dukeproposes Isabella be sent to prison and calls forththe illusive 'friar' to corroborate Isabella's claims.Friar Peter tells the Duke that the friar cannotcome, as he is unwell, but defends him againstLucio - who has slandered the friar, now, to theDuke. Lucio lies again, attempting to persuade theDuke that this friar had slandered him badly in hisabsence. But the Duke appears not to take thisseriously, dismissing the claims as laughable.Mariana enters, wearing a veil. The Dukeinterrogates her, and she admits that she is not amaid, but nor is she married. Lucio continues tointerject, until he is severely reprimanded by theDuke. Mariana names Angelo as her husband,removes her veil and reveals herself to be the onehe encountered in the walled garden, when he wasexpecting Isabella. The Duke questions Angelo,who confirms they were once engaged, but alsothat he broke it off due to stains on her reputation -he has had no contact with her, he believes, for thelast five years. Angelo believes himself to be thevictim of some orchestrated smear campaignagainst him, and the Duke gives him full authorityto punish whoever this may be, as he sees fit. TheDuke leaves, entrusting Angelo to deal with thesituation.Shortly the Duke returns, this time disguised oncemore as a friar. Escalus interrogates him, accusinghim of framing Angelo. The disguised Duke thenspeaks of what he witnessed in the Duke's absence.Lucio comes forward and repeats his slanderousallegations towards the friar, saying that he hasheard the friar slander the Duke. Obviously, thefriar (who is the Duke) denies all knowledge of this,and in a brief scuffle, pulls off the friar's hood,revealing the Duke. The Duke now orders Lucio'sarrest. He interrogates Angelo who admits to hisfaults and begs for a death sentence. Instead, he isordered to marry Mariana. But then the Dukeannounces that as required after the death ofClaudio, Angelo too must die. Mariana howeverpleads on her knees to the Duke, begging for his18Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

Victoria Lloyd, David Killick, Rory Kinnear and Ben MilesPhoto: Keith PattisonLucio Marrying a punk, my lord, ispressing to death,Whipping, and hanging.Duke Slandering a prince deserves it.Act Fivelife to be spared. Isabella joins her pleas, arguingthat Angelo's crime was only intended, notexecuted, whereas Claudio's was intended andtherefore deserved the greater punishment.Upon hearing that the order to execute Claudio didnot come via the standard regulatory procedures,he deprives the Provost from his office, and sendshim to fetch Barnadine. Escalus tells Angelo howdisappointed he is in his misconduct. Then theProvost returns with Barnadine and Claudio, whosehead is covered by a sack. The Duke pardonsBarnadine, bidding him live a better life. Claudio isuncovered, and returned to Isabella. The Duke nextpardons Angelo, and orders him instead to love hiswife and commit to their marriage. Lucio'ssentence comes last. He is ordered to marry thewoman whom he got pregnant, the whore KateKeepdown, a sentence that Lucio feels is worsethan death. The Duke finds the sentence perfectlyfitting for the one who slandered him. After a finalseries of orders, for Mariana to be happy inmarriage, and for Claudio to marry Juliet, the Dukeproposes to Isabella. However she makes noanswer and remains silent. In the final,uncomfortable minutes of the play that ensue, theDuke attempts to conclude the proceedings, butthere remains no satisfactory, or easy, resolution.Plot SummaryResource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 19

TimelineMeasure for Measure is set over the course of five days. Establishing a cleartimeframe for the play helps the actors in rehearsal - and the audience -understand the context of the events happening within the play, particularlywith a play as complex and twisting as Measure for Measure.Act One, Scene 1The Duke departs.Angelo appointed.Act Two, Scene 1Elbow arrests Pompeyand Froth, and bringsthem before Angelo andEscalus.Act Two, Scene 2Isabella appeals toAngelo.Act Three, Scene 2Elbow arrests Pompeyagain.Duke meets Lucio.Escalus and Provosyarrest MistressOverdone.Act One, Scene 2Claudio arrested.Lucio to Isabella.Act Two, Scene 4Isabella returns toAngelo.DAY 1DAY 2DAY 3Act One, Scene 3Duke to Friar Peter,becomes disguised.Act One, Scene 4Lucio sees Isabella.Act Three, Scene 1Duke visits Claudio in prison.Isabella clashes with Claudio.Duke put plan to Isabella.Act One, Scene 2Proclamations issued. Brothelsoutside the city centre begin tobe shut down.Act Two, Scene 3Duke visits Juliet inprison.ACT ONE20Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s plays often take place over many days, and this is generallyindicated within the dialogue, rather than stage directions. At the start ofrehearsals, Michael Attenborough established this following timeline, whichwas kept on the wall of the rehearsal room for all the cast to see.Act Four, Scene 1Duke and Isabella visitMariana.Act Four, Scene 2Almost dawn.Duke visits Provost.Message arrives from Angelofor new execution time.Duke enlists Provost’s help.Act Four, Scene 3Barnadine refusesexecution. Ragozine’shead sent to Angelo.Act FiveThe Duke returns.Showdown at the citygates.TimelineAct Four, Scene 3Isabella told Claudioexecuted.Isabella to Friar Peter.DAY 4DAY 5Act Four, Scene 3Ragozine dies.Act Four, Scene 2Midnight.Provost tells Claudiotime for his execution.Act Four, Scene 4Angelo and Escalusconfer.Act Four, Scene 2Pompey in Prison.ACT TWOResource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 21

DesignThe Almeida Theatre empty stagePhoto: Bridget JonesA BRIEF HISTORY:The Almeida Theatreseats 325 people, andre-opened in 2003 afterextensiverefurbishment. Thebuilding dates back to1837, and was originallythe Islington Scientificand Literary Institution.During the war it wasused as a SalvationArmy Citadel, and waslater a toy factory, beforeit was converted into atheatre in the late 1970s.Design is one of the most thrilling aspects of theatrecraft. The look of a show helps to set mood,atmosphere, time and place. Design elements forany production include set, lighting, sound andmusic.At the Almeida Theatre the set design is the first and last thing theaudience sees. As soon as the audience enters they can see the setand this, together with any sound effects, or music, will begin todetermine how they will experience the production. This initialimpression helps to set the tone for the story to come.The designer, therefore, has to consider what impression he wantsto make on the audience before the play begins. The designer willlook for clues in the play text and will liaise with the director andthe playwright about these.There are also practical considerations for the designer, such ashow big the stage is; what kind of flexibility is required in terms ofentrances and exits; and whether the play is set in a specific timeperiod. The designer often has to be very creative designing a setwhich calls for several different locations.Designing for the Almeida TheatreThe Almeida Theatre was not purpose-built as a theatre so doesnot have the specialised architectural features which typify mostpurpose-built performance venues: a flytower, orchestra pit, wings,offstage area (indeed our ‘back stage’ is actually ‘sub-stage’ in theexcavated basement directly below the stage floor). This meansthat our designers and production teams have to come up withingenious solutions to create innovative sets in our ‘found space’.The building is famous for its large curved brick wall at the back ofthe stage. This feature of the building is used as part of the setdesign for many of the Almeida’s productions. Even when theactual wall is not visible in the set, the brickwork is often echoed asa feature in the design.22Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

DesignMeasure for Measure MODEL BOXSet in various configurations. Clockwise from top: Duke’s office,convent, street scenes, inside the prison, outside prison cell.Design: Lez BrotherstonThe Designer for Measure for Measure is Lez Brotherston.For Measure for Measure, the Almeida Theatre is in front-on formation. The play is set over three daysin a wide variety of locations, from a prison to a convent, from the Duke’s office to the city gates. Forthat reason, this set is very flexible, with two revolves allowing the walls to change position androtate, and a trap door set in the floor, up through which rises the Duke’s desk, and sinks to becomean entrance to the prison dungeons.The play is set in the city of Vienna, originally staged in London in 1604. Shakespeare’s theatre wasvery sparse: they did not use lavish sets, and furniture and props were seldomly seen unless vital tothe action. Attention was very much on the players and their words - costume could tell the audiencean awful lot about an actor’s character.Staging Shakespeare in a modern theatre relies on design to indicate the location and time period ofthe production. Michael Attenborough’s production is ‘timeless’, in that costumes are relative tosomeone’s place within that society, so for example Escalus is dressed very formally, indicating aconservative, old-fashioned man; Lucio is dressed brightly, he is implied to be a pimp and agregarious, outre character. All fitting within a society where the sex trade is rife, law is lax, and sex isa business transaction, a commodity to be bought or sold.Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 23

Interview with the DirectorMichael Attenborough in rehearsalPhoto: Bridget JonesDirector Michael Attenborough answers10 questions in detail about hismotivation and interpretation for hisproduction of Measure for Measure.Almeida Projects: You’ve directed a lot ofShakespeare, although none at the Almeida, untilnow. Why did you decide to do Measure for Measurenow?Michael Attenborough: Two reasons. One, I thoughtit would be a real challenge – it’s a very difficult playfor all kinds of reasons but also because I thought itwas very well suited to the Almeida, to its intensity,intimacy, however you want to put it. And it containsso many different elements of Shakespeare – you getthe intense, apparently tragic, mode of the first half,and then you get a lot of elements of what he wouldcall comedy – not comedy to laugh at but comedy interms of plot machinations like the bed trick and so on; and then the conclusion to the play isneither comic nor tragic and leaves you very , very uneasy and I think that’s why it’s called a problemplay, so people just don’t know how to classify it, and there’s something rather thrilling about that, Ithink. But I think the problem is, when I’ve seen it in big theatres, I’ve just ended up puzzled,because I haven’t really got inside the minds of the principal characters. And the great virtue of theAlmeida is that is enables you to get inside the principal characters – and I very much include theDuke in that as much as Angelo and Isabella, whose psychology is much more evident.AP: Why do you think Measure for Measure is relevant to audiences now?MA: I think it’s relevant to people today for all kinds of reasons but I mean certainly the debatebetween strict justice and mercy, or if you like between moral absolutes and legal absolutes and themore merciful, humane judgment - we’re constantly stretched on the rack about that particularproblem. But nothing could be more contemporary than government corruption – and here we havean apparently straight-laced governor utterly, utterly corrupt. And it was certainly true, particularlyunder the last Conservative government, when we had ministers going up on telly pleading for familyvalues and returning to Victorian values and the strength of the family, and then being discoveredshooting out to see prostitutes and being caught with their knickers down! To put it another way, ifyou’re trying to resolve the first issue, the balance between justice and mercy, you have to be reliantupon the integrity of the person who’s judging. But if the integrity of the person who’s judging goesout the window, we’re lost. Where’s the barometer then? How can we assess anything? If we appointpeople, or they’re self-appointed, to reach judgment, but they themselves are corrupt, we’re in realtrouble.I don’t think there are parallels between Sharia Law. But it certainly is relevant, because it takes noaccount of human feeling and attempts to assert some sort of scriptural or ecclesiastical absolutewhich frankly isn’t relevant to human nature. As is said in Twelfth Night, ‘Dost thou think becausethou art virtuous there will be no more cakes and ale?’ Just because somebody declares a moralabsolute, you’ll still indulge.AP: What research do you do before rehearsals begin?MA: I’m quite untypical in a way. A lot of directors don’t read critical versions of the play; I did. And Ihad the benefit of a long lead-in, because I hadn’t directed anything at the Almeida in the Autumn.So I read a lot of critical studies of the play a long time ago, which meant that I didn’t walk into the24Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

Ben Miles and Anna Maxwell MartinPhoto: Keith Pattisonrehearsal room with them all throbbing in my brain: I’d digested the debate – because of lot of them,of course, completely disagree with each other. And so it gave me a lot of time to prepare and to think.I think it’s a very delicate balance and it applies to any show, particularly to this one, you try to preparein your knowledge of the play but you don’t try to over-prepare how you want to do it. Because youonly have to get into the rehearsal room and find that the actor doesn’t see their character the way youdo, and you’re stumped. So, for example, the character that’s most open to interpretation in the play,namely the Duke, is a blank sheet of paper. I’m really longing to getting into rehearsals with Ben[Miles] and reach some decisions with him, who after all has got to play it. He knows what my feelingsare and I think we’re basically going in the same direction, but I’m longing to try things out, becauseyou’ll always come to a character slightly differently, because you see a character in the context of theplay – that’s your job as a director, that is not the job of the actor, whose job it is simply to see thecharacter. Other than preparing the play and the usual business of sitting down with the designer andcombing through it, I didn’t do much research.One of the things that I didn’t have to research which I knew anyway was the circumstances in whichthe play was written. But if I was doing a Gorky, say, or an Ibsen, I would research what was happeningin Ibsen’s life at that point, or where in Gorky’s life were his politics, how was the revolutionprogressing or not? That would be very important in writing the play. But because I’m completelyobsessed with Shakespeare, and Shakespeare’s life and his time, almost as soon as I knew which yearthis play had been written, I knew how it fell in with the history of the time. So nothing pleases memore than to research details about that period. But I think actually it is possible to apply knowledgeyou have about when the play was written even if you’re not actually setting it in that period. It canhelp you to shift it to another period if you understand how a play was born and what circumstancessurrounded it.AP: You’ve said that the world of the play is very important when staging Shakespeare. What’s yourworld like, in this production of Measure for Measure?MA: The world of this production is very selective and selected. It’s about the problem of government:how do you govern people, what laws do you apply, how do you apply them, how strict or libertarianare they to be? In this particular world, as we find it, it’s an utter mess. The libertarianism has spreadso far it’s laissez-faire, really. The images of sexuality are almost all ugly, they’re disease-ridden and allabout buying sex. It envisions a society in which sex is up to be bought, it’s like something you’dInterview with the DirectorResource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 25

26Interview with the DirectorMichael Attenborough and Anna Maxwell Martin in rehearsalPhoto: Keith Pattisonliterally go to the shops and buy – it’s lost itsfeeling. And the rot in society is evident. The ironyof it is that when Shakespeare wrote this play, thePuritans in London who were Protestants hadclosed not only all the brothels but all the theatreas well; so we know perfectly well that Shakespearewas anti-Puritan, but he was wise enough not to inany sense idealise or glorify the effect of wide,indiscriminate sex, the exploitation of women,unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitteddiseases. They are all there, so he presents the fullpicture but he doesn’t present a moral judgmenton it, it’s just as if he believes that banning itdoesn’t make any sense – it doesn’t solve theproblem. I think that’s the only thing we could sayabout what Shakespeare thought, he would notagree with banning it.AP: How are you dealing with the more disparatestructure of the second half of the play?MA: I think there’s a disparate structure to thewhole play, and I think it links to the questionabout the world of the play. I think it’s veryimportant as you approach this play, particularlybecause it shifts so dramatically in the second half,away from Angelo and Isabella and on to the Dukeand Lucio. It’s important that everybody in theproduction is seen to relate to the central dynamic, namely the battle between government and the sextrade. And so I’ve linked Claudio and Lucio in to that, in a way that most productions don’t. Lucio isn’tnormally ‘known’ to the sex trade at all. The second thing is that I’m intending that the first half isabout Angelo’s pursuit pf Isabella, and in a different way I want the second half to be about the Duke’spursuit of Isabella: we should see him very early on absolutely fall for her, hook, line and sinker. So in away almost everything the Duke does is there not only to rescue Claudio but of course to impress andplease Isabella. So his obsession is with convincing her that he’s a wonderful person. The second halfhas to assert what kind of a person the Duke is. The danger with the Duke is that he can just becomean agent to the plot, and suddenly you lose interest because it’s not character driven. Actually it ischaracter driven, it’s just driven by a man called the Duke who’s making a mess of it, but we have tosee why he’s doing it.AP: Isabella’s silence in the last scene is quite hotly debated, as it’s left very obscure by the text, for thedirector to fill in. What can you tell us about this? What directorial decision have you made?MA: When the Duke proposes to Isabella, it’s quite clear, that in a different way, he’s proposing exactlywhat Angelo proposed. Albeit it’s not a bribe, it’s just a straight offer of marriage, but the fact is she’sabout to become a nun – she’s a bride of Christ. She is not to be his bride. And in terms of herperception of it, because I don’t think in any way has she ever seen that he’s pursuing her, I think itwould be an utter shock, and if for no other reason, she’s literally speechless, she’s utterly astonished.So you have to make a decision within the production as to whether her speechlessness becomespassive acceptance, or becomes ‘I want no part of this’. My intention is that it should be the latter. Ithink it’s too big a reversal of character to say ‘oh well, the Duke says I’ve got to do it, so I’ll do it’.Somebody else in authority said ‘you’ve got to do it’ and she turned him down – I don’t see any reasonwhy she would accept the Duke, it doesn’t make sense to me. Shakespeare’s quite literally leaving itopen, but I think she should actively rebel. I think it’s terribly unsatisfying if she goes off with him andinvolves a big volte face for her as a character.Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

Ben MilesPhoto: Keith PattisonAP: What’s your opinion on the Duke – is he a goodruler?MA: No, I think the Duke an appalling ruler and the ironyis that the Duke thinks he’s an appalling ruler, and that’swhy he abdicates, why he hands over responsibility tosomebody else. But I think the Duke’s in what I’d call awin-win situation: if Angelo as his substitute is a greatsuccess then everyone will say ‘brilliant Duke, havingappointed this really good deputy to clear the place up inyour absence’; if he’s a failure then they will greet himback with open arms. So in a way he can’t lose. The ironyof it is he sticks around and becomes hugely influentialon the action of the play, and what goes on by and largehe totally screws up: he makes mistake after mistake aftermistake and totally misjudges situations. So in the first half he’s a bad ruler because he doesn’t takeresponsibility for anything; then in the second half he’s a bad ruler because when he does takeresponsibility he messes up. I think when he returns in the fifth act, he thinks he’s winning and isabout to resume moral authority and that’s why one of the mistakes he makes is thinking he’s such asuperhero that if he offers his hand to Isabella she’s bound accept. Angelo’s a bad ruler too. One’s alibertarian and the other one’s a tyrant.AP: Lucio is hardly a virtuous figure. Why do you think he’s nearly always found so likeable byaudiences?MA: Lucio is so frequently liked by audiences because everybody loves a scamp! Everybody lovessomebody with cheek and humour, and impertinence and anti-authority – everybody loves outsiders.And although he’s constantly telling fibs to people, in a way he also tells the truth in a lot of situation;he looks after number one but you kind of think finally he sees things how they are. He’s very witty.He’s not a villain in the terms that Richard III is, and I wouldn’t say we like Richard III but we find himwinning because he’s funny, and there’s nothing more winning than humour. The sheer cheek andhumour of Lucio – he’s certainly not virtuous – but equally, he’s sort of irresistible. I think that’s one ofthe things that the play is looking at – that we have to accept our frailty, that we find something that’sout of order rather likeable.AP: How is directing a Shakespeare play different to other working on other playwrights’ texts? Whatunique challenges does Shakespeare pose?MA: The difference in directing a Shakespeare play is very specific, although I think most of the thingsyou learn in directing Shakespeare are applicable to other plays. Basically, if you were a violinist and allyou’ve done is play jazz or rock, and somebody handed you Mozart, you’d have to understand howMozart notates the music. If you’re an actor and you pick up a Shakespeare text, you have tounderstand how Shakespeare has notated the music of his play. I don’t mean singing the text, I meanliterally how the sound of his text works. If you don’t understand how he’s written it, why he’s writtenthat speech in prose and that speech in verse, or what it is about the verse that’s so distinct from theprose, and once you do get on the verse, how does the verse work, you miss a huge amount. I wouldargue you miss two key things: one is what is contained in the text about who you are; because theprocess of rehearsal is the process of the actor finding a way for the character to own the language. It’snot Shakespeare’s language, it’s Juliet’s language, or Angelo’s language. So in a way the less youmention the word Shakespeare in rehearsals the better. Why has the character chosen that phrase orimage, not wasn’t Shakespeare a fine writer to give me that metaphor. So it does involve a degree ofexpertise. You have to understand the mechanics – what a friend of mine once described as theplumbing, the plumbing of the writing. Simply to say treat it like another writer is just ignorance andlaziness, because it isn’t like any other writer, it just isn’t. If somebody wrote a play tomorrow inrhyming couplets and regular metre, we’d have to examine that, it’s not that it’s arcane or old-Interview with the DirectorResource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 27

Interview with DirectorAnna Maxwell Martin and Ben MilesPhoto: Keith Pattisonfashioned, it’s just simply that’s the form and you have to look at it. I actually do believe though thatreally good writers who write brilliant character – and this arguably was one of the major geniuses ofShakespeare, that he would not give words to any character that they wouldn’t have spoken, I thinkthat could be applied to any good writing. Since drama is about interaction of people, the rigour ofexamining how these people express themselves is absolutely key. It’s why I’m suspicious of theMethod, because it can result in you going away and researching, thinking, investigating and goingthrough all the exercises that Stanislavski suggests and then coming back to the text with a set viewof how this character is and imposing it on the text. And I would suggest, why don’t we start theother way round? Why don’t you really, really study the text, then begin to marry that up with yourown experience and your own understanding of humanity and form the character. And then you willhave Shakespeare’s character rather than Anna Maxwell Martin’s version of character, say. It will stillhave Anna Maxwell Martin in it, because of the choices she makes and because of the human beingshe is, but my interest is to climb inside, in this particular instance, the mind of a genius – not mymind.AP: What does this play mean to you, personally? What’s your inspiration?MA: If I’ve learnt anything at all about doing Shakespeare, which I’ve done a fair amount of now, Ithink that the revolution that he caused was to equip the theatre, enable the theatre, to accepthuman beings as paradoxical, contradictory, complex and that the individual character of eachhuman being is to be taken separately from all others. He respected humanity, frailty, vulnerability,just as he respected beauty, virtue, great qualities – he’s saying you just can’t have one without theother; there is no wholly virtuous person any more than there’s a wholly bad person. And for me,this play embodies that beautifully. And it leaves you with a series of questions which doesn’t allowyou the comfort of saying those people are good or those people are bad. And I think that’s whatlife’s like. I love the fact that this play dares to leave a question mark instead of an answer. In a way,tragedy does provide an answer, because actually at the end of the day you can say that was tragicbecause that person died and suffered more than they ever deserved to, more sinned against thansinning. Or in comedy, it’s all right because they all go off arm in arm or married. What’s wonderfulabout this play is that it doesn’t do either of those things, it just leaves it unresolved and I thinkthat’s quite a brave thing to do because it leaves the audience slightly uneasy. But I think that’s theway you have them walking down Upper Street asking questions.28Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

Ben Miles and Rory Kinnear in rehearsalPhoto: John HaynesAngelo: / There is a kind ofcharacter in thy life / That toth’observer doth thy history /Fully unfold. Thyself and thybelongings / Are not thineown so proper as to waste /Thyself upon thy virtues,they on thee.DukeAct One, Scene 1Assistant Director Rob Icke talks us throughthe process of page-to-stage in his rehearsaldiary.Week OneFor many of the creative team on Measure for Measure andthe staff of the Almeida Theatre, the first day of rehearsalsis by no means the first day of work on the production.Michael Attenborough began thinking in detail about thisproduction of the play over a year ago; Lez Brotherstonbegan work on its design back in the summer, and wewere auditioning actors as early as July 2009.Walking into the Almeida’s rehearsal rooms on the firstMonday of rehearsals, then, it is amazing to see the hugenumber of people who are working on the production: aswell as the seventeen actors and large creative team,almost the entire staff of the Almeida theatre are presentto welcome the company! There are people who will workon totally different aspects of the production, fromcostumes, to lights, as well as people who managemarketing and fundraising for the theatre. Even within theacting company, there is a huge range of experience –some of our actors have played several Shakespeare roles,for others, this will be their first; and we have the entirespectrum of professional experience from ‘old hands’ todebut stage performances. It’s hugely important, then,that the first day allows everyone to meet on an equalfooting, and begin to get to know each other.Michael, along with Lez Brotherston, the designer, thenpresents a model box of the design to the assembledcompany. Nothing, though is fixed: and as Michael thensays to the assembled company as he talks them throughthe model, the staging, the position of the revolves, andeven the location for each scene (so rarely specified byShakespeare) is completely up for experimentation inrehearsals.This production of the play has a notably spare andstripped back aesthetic: there is going to be very littlefurniture besides the Duke’s desk and throne, which willplace the focus clearly onto the actors and theirrelationships. Michael’s ‘cut’ of the play, in particular,streamlines the second half of the play to, in his words,‘increase the sense that the clock is ticking against theDuke and his plans’.Returning in the afternoon, the acting company assemblearound a table, and Michael leads an exploration of thetext of the play with the whole company present. Thisensures that everyone is aware of the whole context of theplay – during the rehearsal process the actors will only becalled into the room when their scenes are beingrehearsed: for some company members, this could meanIn the Rehearsal RoomResource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 29

In the Rehearsal RoomDavid Annen and Emun Elliot in rehearsalPhoto: Bridget JonesIsabella Alas, what poor ability’sin meTo do him good!Lucio Assay the power you have.Isabella My power? Alas, I doubt.potentially losing sight of whole chunks of the narrative!Michael begins by talking through some of hispreliminary thoughts about the play. ‘If I had to saywhat this play was about in one word’, he says, ‘I wouldsay that the word is there for you in the first line of theplay: “Government”’. There are, broadly speaking, twogroups of people in this play: those who govern andthose who are governed and those who are governedare largely involved in the sex trade. Stage prostitutesnormally fall into one of two stereotypical categories:either buxom Dickensian wenches, or emaciated,victimised girls – and this production will avoid both.The sex trade in this play is not about glamour orvictims, Michael explains, but about people making aliving. It is, in the simplest sense, a business: and all ofthe characters in one way or another are implicated orinvolved in the vice trade which is rife in Vienna.There is also a long discussion about the ambiguoustitle of the play, and Michael is quick to point out itsimportance. ‘measure for measure’ can be taken torefer simply to an ‘eye for an eye’, like-for-like justice;and yet one of the things that is immediately obviousabout this play is that the question of whether thepunishment fits the crime is a very difficult one. Theplay abounds with images of the scales of justice, ofhow one person, or one person’s crimes ‘weigh’ againstanother, and one of the questions we are keen toexplore through the rehearsal process is that of thedifficulty of deciding whether ‘justice’ has indeed beenserved.Week 2For all of the first week, and the first few days of thesecond, the whole company are collected togetheraround the table working through the play scene byscene. Michael announced as this exploration beganon the afternoon of the first day that ‘there is no suchthing as a stupid question’. Any questions aboutcharacter or plot, any uncertainty about the meaning ofa line, word or phrase, are encouraged, and as peoplestart feeling the freedom to ask when they do notunderstand something, interesting debates aboutcertain areas of the plot begin.Act One, Scene 4Why, in Isabella’s first scene, is she so keen to wish ‘amore strict restraint’ upon the sisterhood? Why is theDuke leaving Vienna – do Angelo and Escalus alreadyknow that he is about to disappear for a while, or is it ashock? Should we believe Claudio when he says thatJuliet is ‘fast his wife’ – would he have ever thoughtabout marriage before he got pregnant? Is Lucio tellingthe truth about the Duke ‘of dark corners’ and hisalleged sexual indiscretions? (This last questionprovokes, perhaps, the most debate of all).30 Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

Lloyd Hutchinson and Ben Miles in rehearsalPhoto: Bridget JonesElbow He, sir? A tapster, sir;parcel bawd; one that servesa bad woman; whose house,sir, was, as they say, pluckeddown in the suburbs; andnow she professes a bathhouse;which I think is a veryill house too.Escalus How know you that?Elbow My wife, sir, whom Idetest before heaven andyour honour -Act Two, Scene 1Michael’s process as a director is very much text based: hehas already worked through several major editions of theplay, though his own textual preference is for the First Folio.Often, when rehearsing a Shakespeare play, there are severaldifferent extant texts – Folios, Good and Bad Quartos, as wellas all the usual editors’ emendations (which are sometimeshelpful, but often not). We are lucky in this instance thatthere is only one text of Measure for Measure, the Folio, whichmakes these sorts of textual choices largely irrelevant: on thewhole, there has to be a really good reason for not going withwhat the Folio suggests.As we work through the play, Michael very often points upthings in the text which will help the actors in their ownapproach to the language. ‘If you are struggling with a line,struggling to learn a line, or struggling to find the way to fitthe line into your mouth, it can often help to beat out the lineregularly: to read the line according to the metre.’ He makesa point out where an antithesis, an alliteration, amonosyllabic line or the rhythm of the verse itself can helpthe actor to access the energy of the line. ‘If you speak theline clearly and you understand the structure of it, theemotion will follow afterwards. To start with the emotion willoften smother the line, and simply mean that you don’tcommunicate with the other character. If you need tocommunicate – and if you really make your argument to theother character, you will be surprised how easily the emotionfollows’.In the Rehearsal RoomIn Week 2, once we have finished working through the playaround the table, the rehearsal set has been erected – a hugemock-up of the final stage space occupies almost all of theResource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 31

In the Rehearsal RoomFlaminia Cinque in rehearsalPhoto: Bridget JonesIsabella Must he needs die?Angelo Maiden, no remedy.Isabella Yes: I do think that youmight pardon him, / Andneither heaven nor man grieveat the mercy.Angelo I will not do’t.Isabella But can you if youwould?Angelo Look what I will not,that I cannot do.Act Two, Scene 2floor, including two working revolves. The Almeidatechnical team have worked late to have it ready forthe first day of blocking, and it proves atremendously useful luxury in deciding where therevolves should be positioned and what ‘feel’different positionings give to a scene.For the rest of the week, we work through the playscene by scene, standing the text up onto its feet andphysically exploring the relationships betweencharacters. The text is subject to real scrutiny inthese early rehearsals, and understanding a lineabsolutely and understanding just the gist of itsmeaning are very different things. Michael isrigorous about pushing the actors line by line toreally commit to the meaning of the text.Week 3The blocking process continues through the thirdweek of rehearsals, along with the slightly scaryrealisation that we are now at the halfway point.Michael tends to have a pre-planned idea of how heenvisions a scene might look and first sets the sceneup before shaping it further according to his ideasand the actors’ impulses. We keep photographs ofthe model box to hand, to remind us of how the setwill actually appear.The actors have prepared well in advance, and comeinto their rehearsals with strong ideas about how ascene might take place and what they as a characterhope to achieve. Rory Kinnear (Angelo), for example,suggested that Angelo might wear glassesthroughout the first part of the play, removing themand putting in contact lenses during his soliloquy ashe prepares for Isabella to return.The two scenes between Angelo and Isabella are insome ways the heart of the first three acts of theplay, and embody many of the play’s fascinatingcontradictions. Though Isabella morally disapprovesof Claudio’s crime (it is, she says, a ‘vice most I doabhor’) she still agrees to plead on his behalf, as sheis his sister.Rory and Anna (Angelo and Isabella) are veryfocused on their characters’ relationship: even oncethe main argument of the scene is clear, there arelots of subtle details to put into place. Isabella needsto be forceful enough that Angelo will listen to her,but cannot immediately come across as aggressiveor angry – she is ‘at war’ between wanting and notwanting to plead for her brother. Angelo, at the sametime, mustn’t come across as defensive – he is,legally, totally in the right – but at the same timemust be compelled enough by Isabella’s argument to32 Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

Anna Maxwell Martin and Lloyd Hutchinson in rehearsalPhoto: Bridget JonesThou seest, thou wickedvarlet now, what’s comeupon thee. Thou art tocontinue now, thou varlet,thou art to continue.ElbowAct Two, Scene 1engage with her and keep the energy of the scene moving. Itis in discovering these finer moments that the language reallystarts to crackle – and the potential and richness of the scenebecomes evident.Week 4In the fourth week, we go back through the play, fixing thescenes down in more detail, agreeing on specific blockingmoves, and talking in further depth about language, characterand interpretation as we go. It’s interesting that even at thisstage of rehearsal our focus is constantly on the text:checking details as the actors run the scene and following theactors on the printed page to make sure every word is inplace. By now, the literal sense of the text is becoming reallycrystal clear, and any moments where we are not yet as clearstand out immediately – making them easy to pinpoint andwork on!The actor with the most lines and some of the most difficulttext, is Ben Miles, playing the Duke, Vincentio. The Duke is afascinating figure: his motives for leaving Angelo in charge,the inner logic behind his final proposal to Isabella and hischaracter are all left pretty much unexplained by Shakespeare.He is very much a character of ‘dark corners’ - the play,ultimately, never really brings him to light – and it is part ofthe challenge for Ben to make him a human, rather than afunctional character. This week, we are discovering realpersonality in his two big speeches, ‘He who the sword ofheaven...’ and ‘Be absolute for death...’, giving a real sense ofa man who in these moments might be seen to look into thedarkest part of himself.In the Rehearsal RoomResource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 33

In the Rehearsal RoomAndrew French in rehearsalPhoto: Bridget JonesNow, good my lord,Let there be some more testmade of my metal,Before so noble and so greata figureBe stamp’d upon it.AngeloAct One, Scene 1Michael’s rehearsal room is open and collaborative, andthe actors are encouraged to put forward ideas andsuggestions. My role as Assistant Director is to scribbledown notes as we go, and then confer with Michaelbetween scenes or after the rehearsals to pass onsuggestions, or discuss the interpretation or slant of ascene or character. On some occasions, I have workedone on one with the actors on bigger speeches, or moregenerally on language - usually in the theatre auditoriumjust up the road. Working with a director as collaborativeas Michael, you really do get an insight into their processand what makes them tick.Week 5In this final week, we need to decide where we are goingto place the interval. At first, our idea was to break at theend of Act 3, beginning the second half with Act 4, Scene1, but after this first run, it became immediately apparentthat it’s way too long and we needed to find anotherpoint. Eventually we hatch a plan to try the interval in themiddle of Act 3, and it fits very well.This final week of rehearsal is all about run-throughs. Wetend to run the play in the morning, with a short break atthe interval, and – throughout – make notes. We thenspend the lunch hour going through our notes, workingout how best to deliver them. The afternoon thencomprises a lengthy note session with the whole cast;Michael’s notes are incredibly focused, picking upanything from clumsy movements and deviations fromthe blocking to a misplaced stress in a line. Then we lookat any real problem areas in a short rehearsal session,and – the next day – do it all again. During the longafternoon work session, it’s my role to keep an eye onthe language of the play, and individually to note the castwhen something isn’t clear, or the meaning seemscloudy.It’s great to see at last the thing as a whole, and it makesit much easier to follow the journey of a character. It’salso very rewarding to see in action some of the ideasMichael has been developing for over a year – theemphasis on prostitution as a trade and not a pleasure,keeping a sense of danger married with the comedy forcharacters like Elbow and Lucio, and, perhaps most ofall, keeping alive the complexities and grey areas, ratherthan resolving them, in this rich, problematic, ‘problem’play.34Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

The following section provides background material on theplay, including key themes and social and historical context.Key ThemesLaw and JusticeOne of the key themes of the play is the role of thestate in creating and enforcing laws. Should thestrict letter of the law be imposed or should lawenforcers have regard to the spirit of the law andmoral laws?Shakespeare demonstrates opposing views throughthe attitudes and actions of Angelo and Escalus.Angelo believes that the law should be appliedstrictly: ‘We must not make a scarecrow of the law,setting it up to fear the birds of prey and let it keepone shape, till custom make it their perch and nottheir terror.’ThemesMistress Overdone under arrest.David Killick, Flaminia Cinque and Mark MoneroPhoto: Keith PattisonGent Thou art always figuringdiseases in me; but thou art full ofterror; I am sound.Lucio Nay, not, as one would say,healthy: but so sound as things thatare hollow; thy bones are hollow;impiety has made a feast of thee.Gent How now, which of your hipshas the most profound sciatica?Mistress O. Well, well! There’s oneyonder arrested and carried toprison, was worth five thousand ofyou all.Act Two, Scene 1Escalus, however, takes a different approach andargues for showing mercy rather than upholdingthe strict letter of the law: ‘Let us be keen andrather cut a little than fall, and bruise to death...’This distinction is developed through the side storyof the arrest of Pompey and Froth. While there hasbeen a breach of the strict letter of the law, Escaluslets Pompey and Froth go with a warning; thereforetreating them in a very different manner to Angelo'streatment of Claudio (and his likely treatment ofPompey and Froth had Angelo made a decision ontheir punishment).Given Angelo believes that the strict letter of thelaw should be applied, it is interesting that Claudiois the character to whom this principle is applied.Other characters in Measure for Measure havebreached the strict laws and seem more deservingof punishment. For example, Lucio and his friends;as shown in their discussion in Act One, Scene 2.Why then did Angelo arrest Claudio? Was this, asClaudio believes, to make a reputation for himselfas a strict and moral man? ‘…and for a name nowputs the drowsy and neglected act freshly on me:'tis surely for his name.’Measure for Measure introduces questions regardingthe extent to which law enforcers should be able tochoose the laws to uphold and who to uphold themagainst. Should they demonstrate moral judgementon who is worthy of the punishment and whetherthe punishment fits the crime, as demonstrated byResource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 35

ThemesEscalus? Or should they ensure that all laws arefollowed, regardless of whether that is just?The latter approach is propounded by Angelo who(despite his earlier hypocritical behaviour) isconsistent in applying these principles to himselfand to Claudio: ‘When I, that censure him, do sooffend, let mine own judgement pattern out mydeath, and nothing come in partial.’ But in the finalscene of the play, it seems justice has prevailed asthe Duke dispenses punishments that fit the crimerather than the strict letter of the law: Angelo's lifeis spared but he must marry Mariana, Lucio mustmarry the prostitute with whom he has a child andClaudio must marry Juliet.The Duke disguises himself as a Friar, to observe in close quarters howAngelo governs in his absenceBen MilesPhoto: Keith PattisonO, what may man withinhim hide,Though angel on the outwardside!DukeAct Three, Scene 2Disguise and the difference betweenappearance and realityAs with many Shakespeare plays, disguise plays alarge part in Measure for Measure. The obvious andexplicit example of disguise is the Duke's disguiseas a Friar. However, the Duke also demonstratesother, less obvious, examples through the playwhich make it difficult to understand the Duke'strue character.This is most evident in his inconsistent approachto vice and the law in Vienna: he is lenient duringthe years preceding the events in the play, but hetakes a strict approach in re-establishing the lapsedlaws by choosing Angelo as his deputy, rather thanthe more compassionate Escalus. He explains thathe has chosen Angelo as his deputy because he‘...Scarce confesses that his blood flows; or that hisappetite is more to bread than stone.’It is also not clear what the Duke's real reasons arefor asking Angelo to be his deputy. The Dukeexplains to Friar Thomas that he has appointedAngelo to enforce the laws, but privately says thathe wants to test Angelo's morals to understandwhether Angelo is the man that he seems to be.‘Hence shall we see if power change purpose, whatour seemers be.’In fact, Angelo is not: Angelo is revealed to havedisguised his private immortality with his piousbehaviour.The difference between appearance and reality isalso shown in the two tricks in the play: first,though Mariana meeting Angelo in Isabella's place;and second through the fake beheading of Claudio.36Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

LoyaltyThe issue of loyalty and its limits is an interestingexplored in Measure for Measure: what would eachof us do to save someone we love. St John's Gospelsays: "Greater love hath no man than this, that aman lay down his life for his friends." In Measurefor Measure, Isabella is not asked to give up her life,but rather her virginity. As she is intending tobecome a nun, this Christian message must be oneshe believes in - if she gave up her mortal life shewould gain everlasting life in heaven. And yet sherefuses Angelo's importuning and acknowledgesthe anomaly, ‘I had rather give my body than mysoul’ (Act Two, Scene 4); and again in Act Three,Scene 1, ‘O, were it but my life, I'd throw it downfor deliverance as frankly as a pin.’ThemesIsabella’s loyalty to her faith and her brother is torn by Angelo’s bargain;Angelo’s loyalty to the law is compromised by his lust for Isabella.Anna Maxwell Martin and Rory KinnearPhoto: Keith PattisonWhilst he is in fact placing her in this personal andmoral predicament, Angelo highlights Isabella’sdilemma: ‘Might there not be charity in a sin tosave this brother's life?’. We could ask: is Isabellajust being selfish in preserving her virginity andletting her brother die? And yet the stakes for herare as high as she could possibly imagine, ‘I'll takeit as a peril to my soul’. In Roman Catholictheology, consenting to Angelo’s demand for sexwould be a mortal sin and she would becondemned to everlasting damnation. She says itwould be better for her brother to lose his mortallife than for her to lose her immortal soul. ‘Morethan our brother is our chastity.’Is she virtuous, right to stick to her principles andnot to give in to blackmail; or is she a religiousfanatic, unable to compromise and unwilling tomake her own sacrifice to save another?HypocrisyHypocrisy - the discrepancy between what we say and what we do, and what tell others to do - runsthrough the centre of Measure for Measure, and to an extent, nearly all the characters in the play can beaccused of this at one point or another, to varying degrees of severity - from Lucio’s double-dealing toAngelo’s flagrant bargain with Isabella. Political sex scandals are nothing new, although modernexamples paraded through the media give neat social context to a 2010 production of Measure forMeasure.The play deals primarily with two sets of people: the rulers, and the ruled. It is by far the hypocrisies ofthe rulers in Measure for Measure that emerge as greater than those of the ruled. Within the play andwithout, this is somewhat expected. Public figures are particularly prone to hypocrisy because societaland other standards (such as a political party's platform) dictate a code of behaviour, whether theindividual agrees with those principles or not. Politicians and religious leaders are routinely calledupon to make moral statements and because they're in the public eye, the stakes of behaviouraldiscrepancies are greater, as are the chances of getting caught.So hypocrisy, though inherently unattractive, is also more or less inevitable in most political settings,and in liberal democratic societies it is practically ubiquitous. No one likes it, but everyone is at it,Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 37

Themeswhich means that it is difficult to criticise hypocrisywithout. Hypocrisy or infidelity in politicians is ahuman problem and it should not be a surprisethat politicians who support family valuessometimes fail to live up to them. After all, they aresubject to the temptations and moral weaknessinherent in us all (such as the scattering of publiclypolitical scandals over the Conservatives’ Back toBasics campaign in the 1990s).And so we turn to Angelo. In terms of Angelo’sbehaviour in Measure for Measure, there are twomain interpretations of his character which appearcontradictory. He is viewed by many as athoroughly wicked man who uses his privilegedposition to attempt to satisfy his physical desireand commit a crime similar to which he iscondemning Claudio. He is a hypocrite whooutwardly professes abstinence and morality, butwho secretly attempts to satisfy his sexual lustthrough threats and blackmail.Anna Maxwell Martin and Emun ElliotPhoto: Keith PattisonHowever another interpretation of Angelo is that ofa basically moral man who succumbs totemptation, less out and out hypocrisy, but morehuman weakness. Angelo is a man who is strongly Puritan by nature but who becomes captivated byIsabella’s beauty and purity of spirit and this gives rise to lustful sexual desires which he struggles tocontrol but in the end cannot. At the start of the play he is charged with the responsibility to enforceand uphold the law by the Duke, and in condemning Claudio to death he is simply carrying out theDuke's instructions.Through has actions during the play, and his attempt to blackmail Isabella into sleeping with him,many view Angelo as a hypocrite who preaches one thing, but acts in a different way – "Do as I say,not do as I do". However Angelo regards himself subject to the law as much as anyone else andadmits he does not claim to be perfect. He tells Escalus:…but rather tell me,When I, that censure him, do so offend,Let mine own judgement pattern out my death,And nothing come in partial.Act Two, Scene 1As with our modern politicians, there appears to be a clear disparity between Angelo the public manand dispenser of justices, and the private man succumbing to temptation and base desires. Angelowas charged with enforcing the laws of the state by the Duke, and to this end he is consistent. Evenwhen his own crime is exposed, he applies the same principle to himself as he pleads for death ratherthan mercy:That I crave death more willingly than mercy.'Tis my deserving, and I do entreat it.Act Five, Scene 1However it is not Angelo alone who acts in a contradictory and hypocritical way in Measure forMeasure. In the play we are presented with two contrasting natures of Isabella – the pure, unworldly,merciful young prospective nun and the pitiless, hard, cold woman who can neither understand nortolerate human weakness. In many ways she responds more ferociously to her brother's weakness38Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

than she did to Angelo's offer. She shows little mercy in her passionate attack:I, you beast!O Faithless coward! O dishonest wretch!Wilt though thou be made a man out of my vice?Is't not a kind of incest, to take lifeFrom thine own sister's shame?"Act Three, Scene 1Many view Isabella as a pure and righteous character who is put in a terrible situation, first by Angelo'sproposal, and then by her brother's plea. Theological reasons seems to be at the heart of Isabella’srefusal to sacrifice her chastity for her brother's life as she expresses her view that:Better it were a brother died at once,Than that a sister, by redeeming him,Should die for ever.Act Two, Scene 4ThemesHer fear here seems to be that by sacrificing her chastity she puts her soul in danger of eternaldamnation and compared to that fate the death of her brother appears trivial. Later in prison, a furthermoral reason is added when she tells the Duke –… I had my brother die by the law,Than my son should be unlawfully born.Act Three, Scene 1However, having shown such an attitude towards her own sexual purity, she doesn’t exhibit the samequalms about the switch with Mariana. In actual fact, the whole scheme as proposed by the Dukeinvolves the same offence as that committed by Claudio, a ‘vice’ which Isabella has already said sheabhors.Which in turn leads us to the Duke, who himself represents a number of contradictions. He can beseen as a basically good authority figure – the wise prince who intervenes benignly in the action, handsout justice but sees the importance of justice tempered by mercy. Alternatively he can be seen as adevious character who enjoys power he can exert over others and manipulates people and employsdeception and dishonesty for his own ends – one of which seems to be to win Isabella for himself.As previously mentioned, the whole scheme of switching Mariana and Isabella to deceive Angelo is theDuke's idea. He himself is actively encouraging deceit and the breaking of the law, but it is deemedacceptable because the end justifies the means. Even in early in the play while the Duke is explainingto Friar Thomas why he is leaving Vienna in the hands of Angelo, we see elements of his hypocrisy:Sith ’twas my fault to give the people scope,‘Twould be my tyranny to strike and gall themFor what I bid them to do; for we this be done,When evil deeds have their permissive pass,And not the punishment. Therefore indeed, my FatherI have an Angelo imposed the office...Act One, Scene 3The Duke wants the laws of the city to be up held, but he does not want to be the one to enforce thelaws which he decreed in case he is viewed as a tyrant. There is an interesting comparison here withMachialvelli's The Prince (1513), which contains one particular story about the Duke Cesare Borgia whotook over a state in which the law had become disregarded, so he gave absolute power to a deputy toreinstate good government. The deputy enforced the law cruelly and was unpopular with the people.When Borgia returned, he wanted to demonstrate that the repressive laws had not come from him, butfrom the deputy. The Duke Borgia arranged for the deputy's dissected body to be displayed in thecentral square.Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 39

Shakespeare’s TheatreWhat were Shakespeare’s theatres like?Here we explore some of the traits oftheatre at the time Measure for Measurewas first performed in 1604.HistoryBefore the first public playhouses were built inLondon in the late 16th century, players performedin the yards and upper rooms of the capital’s manyinns. In 1576 James Burbage built the firstpermanent theatre in Shoreditch, just north of theCity of London. By the early 1600s there wereseveral playhouses just outside the City of London.The audience was very closely-packed with noreserved seats. It was first come, first served. If thepaying spectators disapproved of an actor theywould pelt him with oranges or just aboutanything. booing, hissing and shouting. However,they were always ready with their applause and would clap and cheer when they approved. A visit tothe theatre in Shakespeare's day was a rousing, noisy and very lively experience.Stage and sceneryThe playhouses were brightly decorated inside. Their stages had two doors for entrances and exits,often flanking a larger central opening at the back which could be used for more ceremonial comingsand goings. There was little or no scenery used as there was nowhere to store it betweenperformances and productions had to be easily transportable. Hangings and paintings were oftenused though to create backdrops. Costumes however, were lavish and were widely used to indicatestatus and character.The CastIn Shakespeare’s theatre actors were called players, and groups were called companies. Women werenot allowed to perform in theatres, so women’s parts were played by boys. The leading playerstrained apprentices and some players were well known as fools or clowns, while others specialised intragic roles. The leading players had a stake in their company, so they received part of the profitsfrom performances but they also had to contribute to pay for actors and show costs.The GlobeShakespeare joined the resident troupe at the first theatre in England, built by James Burbage in the1576. Twenty years later, a dispute arose over the renewal of the theatre’s lease. James Burbage diedin February 1597 and the theatre’s lease expired, but the dispute continued for two years. AtChristmas 1598 the company sought a drastic solution: they leased a plot near the Rose, a rivaltheatre in Southwark, demolished the original theatre and carried its timbers over the river. To coverthe cost of the new playhouse, James Burbage’s sons Cuthbert and Richard, offered some membersof the company shares in the building. Shakespeare was one of four actors who bought a share in theGlobe. By early 1599 the theatre was up and running, doing a thriving trade.However, the original Globe’s life was short. Just 14 years after opening, during a performance ofHenry VIII in 1613, a stage cannon was fired which ignited the thatched roof. The entire theatreburned to the ground in under two hours. The theatre was then rebuilt, this time with a tiled roof,and remained the home for Shakespeare’s old company until the closure of all the theatres underEngland’s Puritan administration in 1642. A modern reconstruction of the Globe exists today onLondon’s South Bank, and presents many plays in a near traditional setting. Modelled on the originaldesign, the Shakespeare’s Globe theatre opened in 1997 after nearly 30 years of planning.40Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

London and Vienna in the 1600s were two very different cities, and certainly tohow they are today. But each has a bearing on Shakespeare’s Measure forMeasure, which he deliberately chose to set in Vienna, avoiding censorship - andimprisonment - for writing about pertinent issues of the day.London in 1600s was one of the great crossroads of the world – people from all the regions of Britainand from across the seas crowded into the city for business, to find work, gain standing at the royalcourt, or entertain themselves or others. There were more than 200,000 people living in London at thetime, many of them living beyond the boundaries of the original walled city founded as Londinium bythe Romans when they arrived in southeastern Britain in 43 AD.In Southwark, Shakespeare staged plays at the Globe Theatre, built in 1599 west of London Bridge inan area known as Bankside. Southwark was wild and raucous – a haven for drunks, prostitutes, conmen,gamblers, and thieves. There were many inns and taverns, including The Tabard Inn, madefamous in the prologue of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.London & ViennaAn Elizabethan view of London from the south bank of the ThamesLondon's prosperity was linked to the River Thames, which was a harbour and provided a source offood – including the oysters that during the Elizabethan period were considered a poor man's dish – atransport route for goods, London's principle source of water and also its sewer. At that time there wasno embankments and so the river would routinely flood during the spring.The Tudor brothel catered for both poor and rich. One 1584 account records that a young man mighthave to part with 40 shillings or more in a brothel for ‘a bottle or two of wine, the embracement of apainted strumpet and the French welcome [syphilis]’. In 1546 Henry VIII tried to close the brothels -his royal proclamation ended England's ‘toleration’ for prostitutes who he called ‘dissolute andmiserable persons’.By Elizabethan times, the sale of sex was more diverse. In London, Southwark was the red-lightdistrict. Brothels, usually whitewashed, were called "stews" because of their origins as steambathhouses. But prostitutes were active in the theatres. Celebrated theatrical impresarios and actors, suchas Philip Henslowe and his son-in-law, Edward Alleyn, owned a profitable brothel.During the 17th Century, the most notorious area for prostitution in the port of London was RatcliffeHighway – it was described in 1600 by John Stow as 'a continual street, or filthy straight passage, withResource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 41

London & ViennaPope Sixtus VA brief timeline of key events in Viennaalleys of small tenements or cottages builded,inhabited by sailors and victuallers'.And Vienna?Following the first siege of the Ottoman Turks in1529, Vienna was expanded to a fortress in 1548.The city was furnished with eleven bastions andsurrounded by a moat. A glacis was createdaround Vienna, a broad strip without anybuildings, which allowed defenders to fire freely.These fortifications accounted for the major partof building activities well into the 17th Centuryand during the 30 Years War (1618-1648); theybecame decisive in the second Turkish siege in1683, as they allowed the city to maintain itselffor two months, until the Turkish army wasdefeated by the Polish King Jan Sobieski. At thetime of Shakespeare writing Measure forMeasure, Vienna had undergone a period ofreligious upheaval, with doctrine being enforcedby the law with some vigour. Vienna was astaunchly Catholic society, with very strong ties toRome.1571 Austrians granted religious freedom and 80% convert to Protestanism1576 The great reconversion to Catholicism begins (counter-reformation)1586 Pope Sixtus V declares that the death penalty would be imposed on prostitution and'sins against nature.' Sixtus V intended his command to be followed all over theCatholic world. For their part, the Lutherans continued to shave off both hair andears; the Calvinists branded, and burdened with large stones carried around the city,and employed the stocks in public places.1600-1650 Hundreds of Roman Catholic monks, priest and nuns establish bases in Vienna toencourage the reconversion of the populace.Thus can the demi-god, Authority,Make us pay down for our offence by weight.The words of heaven; on whom it will, it will;On whom it will not, so; yet still ‘tis just.ClaudioAct One, Scene 242Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

Who’s made laws against the sex trade and when? This timeline picks out key,interesting dates regarding sex, prostitution and relationships from the last twocenturies, providing an interesting historical background to Measure for Measurethe play and wider context for this modern-day production.5th century BC Athenian lawmaker and lyric poet Solon founded state brothels and taxed prostituteson their earnings.438 A.D. The Code issued by Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II. deprived parents of their legalright to compel their daughters or slaves to prostitute themselves.1158 Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa punished prostitutes traveling with thearmy. When caught in the act, the prostitute was ordered to have her nose cut off.Late 1200s Age of consent for marriage in England is 12.Late 1500s Age of consent for marriage in England was lowered to 10.13th - 16th Centuries The town of Sandwich and foreign municipalities such as Hamburg, Viennaand Augsburg, built public brothels. Such systems of regulation continued in manyplaces for three centuries - until a great epidemic of syphillis swept over Europe in the16th Century and these official medieval brothels were closed1254 Louis IX ordered all courtesans to be driven out of the country and deprived of theirmoney, goods and - a bit dodgy this one - even their clothes.1275 An age of consent to sex statute first appeared in secular law in England as part of therape law. The statute, Westminster 1, made it a misdemeanor to ‘ravish’ a ‘maidenwithin age’, whether with or without her consent. The phrase ‘within age’ wasinterpreted by jurist Sir Edward Cokeas meaning the age of marriage,which at the time was 12 years ofage.1546 Henry VIII tried to close the bawdyhouses (without much success assome were moated and had highwalls to repel attackers).1560 An ordinance of Charles IX prohibitedthe opening or keeping of any brothelor house of reception for prostitutesin Paris.1617 The red-light district Yoshiwara(‘Good Luck Meadow’) wasestablished in on the edge of theTokyo to gather all legal brothels inan out-of-the-way spot.1699 The colony of Massachusetts passesa law against ‘nightwalking’.1751 Empress Maria Theresa outlawedprostitution and imposed fines,imprisonment, whipping and torturefor violations. She even bannedfemale servants from taverns andforbade all women from wearingshort dresses.Sex Trade: A TimelineResource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 43

44Sex Trade: A Timeline1791 The French Napoleonic codeestablished an age of consent to sexof 11 years. The age of consent,applied to boys as well as girls.1863 The French Napoleonic codeincreased the age of consent to sexto 13 years.1864 The Contagious Diseases Act waspassed. This law allowed the policeto arrest prostitutes in ports andarmy towns and bring them in tohave compulsory checks forvenereal disease.1870 The city of St. Louis, Missouri in theUnited States passed the ‘SocialEvil Ordinance’ which allowed theBoard of Health to regulateprostitution. Prostitutes needed tobe registered and to have a medicalexamination.1875 Age of consent to marry, and tohave sex in England was raised to13. An act of sexual intercoursewith a girl younger than 13 was afelony.mid-1880s The median legal age of consent to marriage in the United States was 10.1891 The Age of Consent Act in British India raised the age of consent of consummationfrom 10 to 12 years.1910 - 1915 Originally legal in the United States, prostitution was outlawed in almost all stateslargely due to the influence of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union4 September 1957 Publication of The Report of the Departmental Committee on HomosexualOffences and Prostitution, which resulted in a police crackdown on street prostitution9 December 1964 The Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, andRegistration of Marriages was a treaty agreed upon in the United Nations on thestandards of marriage. The Convention reaffirms the consensual nature of marriagesand requires the parties to establish a minimum age by law and to ensure theregistration of marriages.Marriage age England and Wales: 16 with parental consent, 18 otherwise.1967 Homosexual acts decriminalised.2003 Age of sexual consent in Britain set at 16Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

The law, particularly in relation to women and sex, has changed considerablysince Measure for Measure was written. This article provides some contextrelating to issues in Measure for Measure in relation to UK Law today.WomenThe term women's rights refers to freedoms and entitlements of women and girls of all ages. Issuescommonly associated with notions of women's rights include, though are not limited to, the right: tobodily integrity and autonomy; to vote (suffrage); to hold public office; to work; to fair wages or equalpay; to own property; to education; to serve in the military or be conscripted; to enter into legalcontracts; and to have marital, parental and religious rights.Anna Maxwell MartinPhoto: Keith PattisonAccording to English Common Law, whichdeveloped from the 12th Century onward allproperty which a wife held at the time of amarriage became a possession of her husband.Eventually English courts forbid a husband'stransferring property without the consent of hiswife, but he still retained the right to manage itand to receive the money which it produced.During the 19th Century women began to agitatefor the right to vote and participate ingovernment and law making. The ideals ofwomen's suffrage developed alongside that ofuniversal suffrage and today women's suffrage isconsidered a right (under the Convention on theElimination of All Forms of DiscriminationAgainst Women).In Britain women's suffrage gained attentionwhen John Stuart Mill called for the inclusion ofwomen's suffrage in the Reform Act of 1867 in apetition that he presented to Parliament. Initiallyonly one of several women’s rights campaign,suffrage became the primary cause of the Britishwomen’s movement at the beginning of the 20thCentury. At the time the ability to vote wasrestricted to wealthy property owners withinBritish jurisdictions. This arrangement implicitly excluded women as property law and marriage lawgave men ownership rights at marriage or inheritance until the 19th century. Although male suffragebroadened during the century, women were explicitly prohibited from voting nationally and locally inthe 1830s by a Reform Act and the Municipal Corporations Act. In 1918 the British Parliament passeda bill allowing women over the age of 30 to vote, and the voting age for women was lowered to 21 in1928.UK Law and the PlayIn the UK, a public groundswell of opinion in favour of legal equality had gained pace, partly throughthe extensive employment of women in what were traditional male roles during both world wars. Bythe 1960s the legislative process was being readied, tracing through MP Willie Hamilton's selectcommittee report, his Equal Pay For Equal Work Bill, the creation of a Sex Discrimination Board, LadySear's draft sex anti-discrimination bill, a government Green Paper of 1973, until 1975 when the firstBritish Sex Discrimination Act, an Equal Pay Act, and an Equal Opportunities Commission came intoforce. With encouragement from the UK government, the other countries of the EEC soon followedsuit with an agreement to ensure that discrimination laws would be phased out across the EuropeanCommunity.Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 45

UK Law and the PlayVictoria Lloyd and David KillickPhoto: Keith PattisonMarriageDuring the 1800s women in the United Statesand Britain began to challenge laws that deniedthem the right to their property once theymarried. Under the common law doctrine ofcoverture husbands gained control of their wives'real estate and wages. Beginning in the 1840s,state legislatures in the United States and theBritish Parliament began passing statutes thatprotected women's property from their husbandsand their husbands' creditors. These laws wereknown as the Married Women's Property Acts.Great changes in the situation of women tookplace in the 19th century, especially concerningmarriage laws and the legal status of women. Thesituation that fathers always received custody oftheir children, leaving the mother completelywithout any rights, slowly started to change. TheCustody of Infants Act in 1839 gave mothers ofunblemished character access to their children inthe event of separation or divorce, and theMatrimonial Causes Act in 1857 gave women limited access to divorce. But while the husband onlyhad to prove his wife's adultery, a woman had to prove her husband had not only committed adulterybut also incest, bigamy, cruelty or desertion. In 1873 the Custody of Infants Act extended access tochildren to all women in the event of separation or divorce. In 1878, after an amendment to theMatrimonial Causes Act, women could secure a separation on the grounds of cruelty and claimcustody of their children. Magistrates even authorized protection orders to wives whose husbandshave been convicted of aggravated assault. An important change was caused by an amendment to theMarried Women's Property Act in 1884 that made a women no longer a 'chattel' but an independentand separate person. Through the Guardianship of Infants Act in 1886 women could be made the soleguardian of their children if their husband died.RapeUnder the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which came into force on May 1, 2004, rape in England andWales was redefined from non-consensual vaginal or anal intercourse, and is now defined as nonconsensualpenile penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth. The forcing of a penis into a vagina by afemale is criminalised, as it appears to be covered by section 4 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 -causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. The maximum sentence of lifeimprisonment was maintained under the new Act. It also altered the requirements of the defence ofmistaken belief in consent so that one's belief must be now both genuine and reasonable (see aboveunder common law).Presumptions against that belief being reasonably heldalso now apply when violence is used or feared, thecomplainant is unconscious, unlawfully detained, drugged,or is by reason of disability unable to communicate a lackof consent. The change in this belief test from the oldsubjective test (what the defendant thought, reasonably orunreasonably) to an objective test was the subject of somedebate, as it permits a man to be convicted of rape if hethought a person was consenting, were the circumstancesthought by a jury to be unreasonable.Behold, behold, whereMadam Mitigation comes! Ihave purchased as manydiseases under her roof ascome to -LucioAct One, Scene 2A woman assisting a man commit a rape can be prosecuted for the crime as an accessory.46Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

PerjuryPerjury, also known as forswearing, is the wilful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell thetruth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, thewitness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the case. Forexample, it is not considered perjury to lie about one's age unless age is a factor in determining thelegal result, such as eligibility for old age retirement benefits.In the United Kingdom a potential penalty for perjury is a prison sentence of up to 7 years. Howeverprosecutions for perjury are rare.Pregnancy and AbortionAbortion has been legal on a wide number of grounds in England and Wales and Scotland since theAbortion Act 1967 was passed. At the time, this legislation was one of the most liberal laws regardingabortion in Europe.The Abortion Act 1967 sought to clarify the law.Introduced by David Steel and subject to heateddebate it allowed for legal abortion on a numberof grounds, with the added protection of freeprovision through the National Health Service.The Act provided a defence for doctorsperforming an abortion on any of the followinggrounds:• To save the woman's life.• To prevent grave permanent injury to thewoman's physical or mental health.• Under 28 weeks to avoid injury to thephysical or mental health of the woman.• Under 28 weeks to avoid injury to thephysical or mental health of the existingchild(ren).• If the child was likely to be severelyphysically or mentally handicapped.Until 1990 when the HFE Bill amended the Actthe Infant Life Preservation Act acted as a bufferLloyd Hutchinson, Mark Monero and Emun ElliotPhoto: Keith Pattisonto the Abortion Act. This meant that abortions could not be carried out if the child was ‘capable ofbeing born alive’. There was therefore no statutory limit put into the Abortion Act, the limit being thatwhich the courts decided as the time at which a child could be born alive. The C v S case in 1989placed ‘capable of being born alive’ at about 22/23 weeks.UK Law and the PlayThe Act required that the procedure must be certified by two doctors before being performed.Changes to the 1967 Abortion Act were introduced in Parliament through the Human Fertilisation andEmbryology Act 1990. The time limits were lowered from 28 weeks to 24 for most cases to reflectalleged improvements in medical technology justifying the lowering. Restrictions were removed for lateabortions in cases of risk to life, fetal abnormality, or grave physical and mental injury to the woman.In May 2008, MPs voted to retain the current legal limit of 24 weeks. Amendments proposingreductions to 22 weeks and 20 weeks were defeated by 304 to 233 votes and 332 to 190 votesrespectively.Sex Trade and ProstitutionIn the United Kingdom, prostitution itself (the exchange of sexual services for money) is legal, butmost activities which surround it are outlawed. Activities which are illegal include soliciting in a publicplace, kerb crawling, keeping a brothel, pimping, pandering and outraging public decency (having sexResource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 47

UK Law and the PlayLloyd Hutchinson and Trevor CooperPhoto: Keith PattisonCome: fear not you: good lawyerslack no clients: though you changeyour place, you need not changeyour trade: I’ll be your tapster still;courage, there will be pity taken onyou; you that have worn your eyesout in the servic, you will beconsidered.PompeyAct One, Scene 2in public). Since the Sexual Offences Act 2003,the word prostitute is gender neutral, previouslysome laws only applied to female prostitutes.In 2003, it was estimated that, in London, onewoman in 300 was working as a prostitute(compared to one in 35 in Amsterdam).A brief summary of what is deemed illegal inEngland and Wales includes:• for a ‘common prostitute’ to loiter or conductsolicitation in a street or public place is illegal,therefore outlawing street prostitution.• it is also illegal for a potential client to solicitin a public place, or solicit from a motorvehicle.• keeping a brothel is illegal (It is an offence fora person to keep, or to manage, or act orassist in the management of, a brothel towhich people resort for practices involvingprostitution); a brothel is a premises wheretwo or more prostitutes work.• controlling prostitution for gain is an offence,banning pimping.• escort agencies are illegal where the agency iscontrolling the escorts.• a prostitute is defined by the Sexual OffencesAct 2003 as a someone who has offered orprovided sexual services to another person inreturn for any financial arrangement on at leastone occasion. This definition replaces theprevious definition of a ‘common prostitute’.• working as a prostitute in private is legal, as isworking as an outcall escort.• child prostitution is specifically illegal for theperson paying.A similar situation exists in Scotland, whereprostitution itself (the exchange of sexualservices for money) is not illegal but associatedactivities (such as public solicitation, operating abrothel or other forms of pimping) are outlawed.Street prostitution is dealt with under the CivicGovernment (Scotland) Act 1982, section 46(1).48Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

In Measure for Measure, Vienna is governed by law drawing very closely onChristian authority. But what is Canon Law and what does Christian teachingactually say about some of the issues in the play?Canon law governs the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Anglicanchurches' internal ecclesiastical relationship. Each church then has its own body of laws, some ofwhich are very ancient, such as the Roman Catholic Law, which predates the Civil (mainlycontinental countries’) Law systems and Common (mainly English speaking countries’) Lawsystems. Roman Catholic Law, although binding on the Roman Church is not seem to berecognised as a national law by any state, though elements may contribute to it.Canon Law does not have statutes pertaining directly to issues in the play, but as is based on theTen Commandements, we can make good assumptions about Canon Law's position on the issuesbelow.WomenWomen cannot be ordained in the Catholic church.MarriageDivorce and mariage's nullity are allowed in certain circumstances.Canon LawRape‘You shall not steal/you shall not murder’A wider interpretation of these commandments shows a strong rejection of rape.PerjuryYou shall not give false testimony against your neighbour’A strong statement against lying of all forms.Pregnancy/Legitimacy‘You shall not commit adultery’Sex outside of marriage is considered adulterous.Sex Trade‘You shall not commit adultery/shall not covert your neighbour's wife’Again, sex outside marriage is not permitted.O cunning enemy, that, to catch a saint,With saints do bait thy hook! Most dangerousIs that temptation that doth goad us onTo sin in loving virtue.ClaudioAct Two, Scene 2Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 49

The Legal CaseMeasure for Measure: The Legal CaseWe asked two lawyers to use their unique insight into the law and draw up thelegal case at the centre of Measure for Measure. This case is inspired by theplay - the statute is fictional and so is the case.Historical backgroundIn Elizabethan times, marriages tended to be arranged. Traditionally, the woman’s family would paya dowry (property, money and/or goods such as furniture, bed linen or crockery) to the husband.Weddings were always a religious ceremony. This was at a time when sex before marriage was notmerely frowned upon but could be punished even if the couple subsequently married.Case: Vienna versus ClaudioStatute: The Illicit Sex Act 15511. No person shall have any sexualactivity with another person outsidewedlock.2. Any person who contravenes section1 is guilty of an offence and liable todeath by public execution.FactsClaudio and Juliet are engaged to be married but have postponed their wedding for financialreasons. Claudio and Juliet have sex and Juliet is pregnant.Prosecution’s CaseThe law is clear, there are three elements to the offence of illicit sex.1. The first element is sexual activity. Claudio has admitted that he has had sex with Juliet. In anycase, what better evidence of him having had sexual activity than Juliet being pregnant?2. The second element is that another person must be involved. Juliet was clearly involved.3. The third element is that such activity is outside wedlock. Claudio and Juliet are not married.The three elements to the offence of illicit sex are therefore present. The legislator did not deem itnecessary to provide any exceptions to the prohibition of sexual activities outside wedlock.Laws are there to be enforced, and not to be made ‘a scarecrow’ of. We therefore urge the jury tofind Claudio guilty.Defence caseThe defence would like to raise the jury’s attention to the following arguments:1. This law has not been enforced for years and it is therefore understandable that Claudio did notbelieve he was committing an offence.50Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

2. Vienna has changed its policy and is trying “to make [Claudio] an example.”3. The spirit of the law was to prohibit sexual activities outside life-long exclusive relationships.People like Claudio who are engaged to get married should not be caught by the statute. Claudioand Juliet's relationship is a contractual one, just like marriage. They have promised each otherthat they will get married and their relationship is tantamount to marriage. Vienna is trying toenforce the letter of the law by following ‘close the rigour of the statute’, not the spirit of the law.Such use of the law would not be fair. For ‘it is excellent to have a giant’s strength, but it istyrannous to use it like a giant’.We therefore urge the jury to find Claudio innocent.Jury’s decision and sentenceThroughout the trial the judge will have made decisions about the law and managed the trial.The jury must now consider the evidence and decides whether Claudio is guilty or innocent. If thejury finds the defendant (i.e. Claudio) guilty, the judge will issue his sentence.Questions the jury may have for the judge:1. Is it relevant that, whilst the law is clear, it has not been regularly enforced?2. Does the fact that Claudio and Juliet have agreed to marry, but are just awaiting the payment of thedowry, mean they are ‘inside’ or ‘outside’ wedlock?3. Even if the specific conditions of the Statute are, on a literal interpretation, satisfied, can wedetermine that the ‘spirit’ of the law has not been breached and he is not, therefore, guilty?4. If Claudio is guilty, should Juliet be on trial as well?5. Although Claudio might be guilty, his crime does not have a detrimental effect on society (unlikethe brothel clientele it was meant to catch) and he should, therefore, receive a lighter punishment.Can we find him guilty and you, the judge, not sentence him to death?6. If we find Claudio guilty, what repercussions will this have for people in similar circumstances? Isit relevant that we do not want to execute people who are good in so many ways?The Legal CaseFurther WorkWhy not stage your own courtroom drama? Assign a prosecution lawyer, defense lawyer,and judge. Find some witnesses and assemble a jury. Using the statute above, and theplaytext as your source material, play out the trial of Claudio.How about Angelo? Has he broken the law? Write your own statute for his ‘crime’ andput him on trial.Using drama techniques to enhance and refine your understanding of the play can reallyallow you to get deep inside the world of Measure for Measure, even if you are not astudent of drama. Practical exploratory work can support an academic interpretation ofthe play, allowing you to ‘play out’ and test your ideas before you pick up a pen. This isparticularly true for with a playtext that was written foremost for performance, ratherthan to be ‘read’.Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 51

Practical ExercisesPractical ExercisesThe play deals with a number of issues that are particularly interesting toexplore in the classroom. Below are just a few suggested exercises for usein lesson time to investigate the themes of the play in further depth.Exercise 1. City of ViceDuration: 15 minsAim: To understand the context of the play, and the Duke’s predicament at the very beginning.Practical Work: In this production’s opening scene,the audience is reminded that Vienna is a cityoverrun with corruption and vice through theprovocative, scantily-clad dancers. Ask thestudents how they might, as a director, depict thelevel of sin in Vienna. In groups, have studentscreate still images of chosen areas of vice, forexample an alley way or street corner, a corruptpolice station, a night club or bar, a gambling denetc. Try bringing the images to life using repetitivemovements and sounds. How might theatmosphere change with the introduction of anaustere ruler like Angelo? Later in the play wefrequently see the police carting prostitutes, bytheir hair, off to prison. Have someone representAngelo and walk past each of the areas to see howhis presence changes the city of vice.Evaluate: Ask the students to consider what kindof world is the play set in at the beginning andhow this changes. Does Angelo’s strictness havean influence on the way people behave?Exercise 2. Shifting StatusMeasure for Measure’s Vienna is full of vice, but can the governmentsuccessfully legislate against it? Who in the court seems to have the bestapproach - the Duke, Angelo, or even Escalus?Duration: 20 minsAim: To show students that the status of the characters in the play is constantly shifting.You will need: Script Extract from Act Two, Scene 4 (p54-57)Practical Work: To warm into this exercise, have students silently order themselves in a line by age,height, colour of hair, birth date etc. What gives a person status? Is it positions of authority or aretheir other factors? Have students read the following scene between Angelo and Isabella – how doesthe status shift between them. Try playing the scene on a line with the actors taking a step forwards orbackwards on every line, depending on their status. This is a very visual way of seeing how statusshifts.Evaluate: Ask the group how they felt playing the scene on a line? Was it clear who gained status andwhen? Was it always obvious who had the higher status? Using this analysis, it might be worthreplaying the scene using the original text.52 Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

Exercise 3. PersuasionDuration: 20 minsAim: To encourage participants to think about the language and tactics that Isabella uses to try andconvince Angelo to save her brother.Practical Work: Place a chair in the centre of the room and ask for a volunteer to sit on the chair. Tellthe person that their objective is to stay on the chair. They really do not want to leave it. Now invitethe rest of the group to find ways of persuading that person to leave the chair. What tactics can theyemploy? The only rule is that the person on the chair must accept whatever people say as the truth.So, if someone says that the chair is on fire then the chair IS on fire. Claudio says that Isabella hasgood powers of persuasion:…in her youthThere is a prone and speechless dialectSuch as move men; beside, she hath prosperous artWhen she will play with reason and discourse,And well she can persuade.In groups of three, decide on a similar dilemma where person A, like Isabella, has been asked to dosomething that they don’t want to. Person B thinks that they should do it and person C thinks thatthey shouldn’t. In the scene, person A must let the audience know what the dilemma is and personsB and C should only give three reasons each for why/why not person A should/shouldn’t do it(utilising their powers of persuasion for the previous exercise). Person A must make a decision by theend of the scene.Evaluate: Was it easy or difficult for person A to make their decision? What arguments of tactics ofpersuasion helped them to make it? What other tactics might have influenced their choices?Exercise 4. Dramatic IronyDuration: 20 mins (plus share back time).Aim: To learn what Dramatic Irony is, whateffect it has, and how to use it.Practical ExercisesPractical Work: Discuss and explain whatDramatic Irony is and how it relates toMeasure for Measure, specifically in therelationship between the Duke and Lucio -how the audience know something that thecharacters do not. Split the participants intosmall groups and ask them to create a sceneusing Dramatic Irony. Give examples of otherplays that use this technique, e.g. Rope andRomeo and Juliet, to give ideas for a scenewhere the audience knows something that thecharacters do not. Show these back to therest of the group.Evaluate: How did this make the actors andthe audience feel, was it funny? Or did it makeyour feel scared or nervous?Shakespeare’s plays are often full of dramatic irony, particularly the ‘problemplays’ and the comedies. It is often created through monologues and asides. InMeasure for Measure, dramatic irony is used both as a comic tool and as a deviceto create dramatic action. Dramatic irony is central to the audience’sunderstanding of the ‘bed trick’, and gives insight into characters’ motivations.But are these insights always reliable?Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 53

Script ExtractMeasure for Measure Script ExtractTaken from Act Two, Scene 4IsabellaAngeloIsabellaAngeloIsabellaAngeloIsabellaAngeloIsabellaI am come to know your pleasure.That you might know it, would much better please me,Than to demand what ‘tis. Your brother cannot live.Even so. Heaven keep your honour!Yet may he live awhile; and, it may be,As long as you or I; yet he must die.Under your sentence?Yea.When, I beseech you? That in his reprieve,Longer or shorter, he may be so fittedThat his soul sicken not.Ha? Fie, these filthy vices! It were as goodTo pardon him that hath from nature stolenA man already made, as to pardonTheir saucy sweetness that do coin heaven’s imageIn stamps that are forbid. ‘Tis all as easyFalsely to take away a life true made,As to put mettle in forbidden meansTo make a false one.‘Tis set down so in heaven, but not in earth.AngeloIsabellaAngeloIsabellaAngeloIsabellaAngeloIsabellaSay you so? Then I shall pose you quickly.Which had you rather, that the most just lawNow took your brother's life; or, to redeem him,Give up your body to such sweet uncleannessAs she that he hath stain'd?Sir, believe this,I’d rather give my body than my soul.I talk not of your soul: our compell’d sinsStand more for number than for accompt.How say you?Nay, I’ll not warrant that: for I can speakAgainst the thing I say. Answer to this:I – now the voice of the recorded law –Pronounce a sentence on your brother’s life:Might there not be charity in a sinTo save this brother’s life?Please you to do’t,I’ll take it as a peril to my soul;It is no sin at all, but charity.Pleas’d you to do’t, at peril of your soul,Were equal poise of sin and charity.That I do beg his life, if it be sin,Heaven let me bear it; you granting of my suit,If that be sin, I’ll make it my morn prayerTo have it added to the faults of mine,And nothing of your answer.54 Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

AngeloIsabellaAngeloIsabellaAngeloIsabellaNay, but hear me;Your sense pursues not mine: either you are ignorant,Or seem so, crafty; and that’s not good.Let me be ignorant, and in nothing good,But graciously to know I am no better.Thus wisdom wishes to appear most brightWhen it doth tax itself: as these black masksProclaim as a concealed beauty ten times louderThan beauty could, display’d. But mark me;To be received plain, I’ll speak more gross.Your brother is to die.So.And his offence is so, as it appears,Accountant to the law upon that pain.True.Angelo Admit no other way to save his life –To which I subscribe – that you, his sister,Finding yourself desir’d of such a personWhose credit with the judge, or own great place,Could fetch your brother from the manaclesOf the all-binding law; and that there wereNo earthly mean to save him, but that eitherYou must lay down the treasures of your bodyTo this suppos’d, or else to let him suffer:What would you do?Script ExtractIsabellaAngeloIsabellaAngeloIsabellaAngeloIsabellaAs much as for my poor brother as myself;That is, were I under the terms of death,Th’impression of keen whips I’d wear as rubies,And strip myself to death as to a bedThat longing have been sick for, ere I yieldMy body up to shame.Then must your brother die.And ‘twere the cheaper way.Better it were a brother died at once,Than that a sister, by redeeming him,Should die for ever.Were you not then as cruel as the sentenceThat you have slander’d so?Ignomy in ransom and free pardonAre of two houses: lawful mercyIs nothing kin to foul redemption.You seem’d of late to make the law a tyrant,And rather prov’d the sliding of your brotherA merriment than a vice.O pardon me, my lord; it oft falls outTo have what we would have, we speak not what we mean.I something do excuse the thing I hateFor his advantage that I dearly love.Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 55

Script ExtractAngeloIsabellaAngeloIsabellaAngeloIsabellaWe are all frail.Else let my brother die,If not an accomplice yet but only heOwns and inherits thy weakness.Nay, women are frail too.Ay, as the glasses where they view themselves,Which are as easy broke as they make forms.Women? – Help, heaven! Men their creation marIn profiting by them. Nay, call us ten times frail;For we are soft as our complexions are,And credulous to false prints.I think it well;And from this testimony of your own sex –Since I suppose we are made to be no strongerThan faults may shake our frames – let me be bold.I do arrest your words. Be that you are,That is, a woman; if you be more, you’re none.If you be one – as you are well express’dBy all external warrants – show it now,By putting on the destin’d livery.I have no tongue but one; gentle my lord,Let me entreat you speak the former language.56AngeloIsabellaAngeloIsabellaAngeloIsabellaAngeloPlainly conceive, I love you.My brother did love Juliet,And you tell me that he shall die for it.He shall not, Isabel, if you give me love.I know your virtue hath a licence in't,Which seems a little fouler than it is,To pluck on others.Believe me, on mine honour,My words express my purpose.Ha! little honour to be much believed,And most pernicious purpose! Seeming, seeming!I will proclaim thee, Angelo; look for't:Sign me a present pardon for my brother,Or with an outstretch'd throat I'll tell the world aloudWhat man thou art.Who will believe thee, Isabel?My unsoil’d name, th’austereness of my life,My vouch against you, and my place i’th’stateWill so your accusation overweigh,That you shall stifle in your own report,And smell of calumny. I have begun,And now I give my sensual race the rein:Fit thy consent to my sharp appetite;Lay by all nicety and prolixious blushesThat banish what they sue for. Redeem thy brotherBy yielding up thy body to my will;Or else he must not only die the death,But thy unkindness shall his death draw outTo ling’ring sufferance. Answer me tomorrow,Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

ExitIsabellaExitOr, by the affection that now guides me most,I’ll prove a tyrant to him. As for you,Say what you can: my false o’erweighs your true.To whom should I complain? Did I tell this,Who would believe me? O perilous mouths,That bear in them one and the self-same tongueEither of condemnation or approof,Bidding the law make curtsey to their will,Hooking both right and wrong to th’appetite,To follow as it draws! I’ll to my brother.Though he hath fall’n by prompture of the blood,Yet hath he in him such a mind of honour,That had he twenty heads to tender downOn twenty bloody blocks, he’d yield them upBefore his sister should her body stoopTo such abhorr’d pollution.Then, Isabel live chaste, and brother, die:Script ExtractResource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare 57

Pinsent MasonsPinsent Masons & Almeida ProjectsInspiring young livesPinsent Masons, one of the UK's top 15 law firms, has been a Major Sponsor of the Almeida Theatresince 2005, most recently sponsoring this production of Measure for Measure. Their involvement withAlmeida Projects developed soon after, with a creative research report which aimed to pave the wayto break down barriers between Pinsent Masons and the local community. The launch of the report,entitled Projections, coincided with the official launch of the Pinsent Masons Corporate Responsibilityprogramme Starfish, with its underlying theme of ‘inspiring young lives’.Pinsent Masons has continued to work closely with Almeida Projects to make a difference to thepartner schools in Islington that both organisations share. Initiatives have included helping PinsentMasons' volunteers to create a DVD to show young people what it’s like to work in a business officeenvironment, funding pre-show workshops and tickets for young people to see matinee productionsand supporting a brand new initiative, Be a Critic, with Pinsent Masons’ volunteers providingstudents the tools to successfully critique a play.Pinsent Masons’ staff worked with Almeida Projects to explore some of the key themes in Measure forMeasure and contributed directly to the writing of this educational Resource Pack. This creativeresource is made available, free of charge, to all young people visiting the theatre and via theAlmeida’s website.Measure for MeasureResource Pack ProjectProject Leader Charlie PayneDirector of Almeida Projects Samantha LaneFor Pinsent Masons Ushma KnappPinsent Masons ContributorsCaroline AllenTom LemanMaria LukianchikovaBob Mecrate-ButcherIain MonaghanOlivia PhalippouKaryn PulleyBrona ReevesStephan SimonKatie TuckerMartin WebsterKoralie Wietrzykowski58Resource Pack: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

AlmeidaProjectsMeasure for MeasureAlmeida Projects Resource PackWritten and designed by Charlie Payne, withcontributions and assistance from staff fromPinsent Masons LLP and Samantha Lane.Measure for Measure by William Shakespearewas produced at the Almeida Theatre 12February - 10 April 2010.The information in this Resource Pack iscorrect at the time of going to Press. Allrights reserved. © Almeida Theatre,Published February 2010.The Almeida Theatre is a Registered CharityNo. 282167. The Almeida Theatre CompanyLimited, Almeida Street, London N1 1TAUse of this Almeida Projects Resource Packis authorised in connection with theAlmeida Projects work at the AlmeidaTheatre. Any further use in any form mustbe approved by the creators. The copyrightof all original material remains with thecreators.Quotes and script extracts from Measure forMeasure by William Shakespeare.Almeida Projects photography: BridgetJones, Lucy Cullen and Ludovic des Cognets.Almeida Projects is the Almeida Theatre’scommunity and learning programme.Inspired by the Almeida’s productions, Projects delivers a range of high quality,innovative activities to make the theatre accessible to young people, inspire themcreatively and encourage an exploration of the power and potential of theatre.Almeida Projects provides an active, creative link between our theatreand its audience, more specifically an audience that may not haveconsidered that the theatre might not be for them.Our aim is to act as a catalyst to their energies, to their hunger toparticipate - celebrating the creativity of young people in the best waywe know how: by offering them our experience, our expertise and ourunique theatre.Michael AttenboroughArtistic Director, Almeida TheatreAlmeida Projects’ work draws on all aspects of theatre, working with thousands ofpeople each year, and includes: drama projects in partnership with local schools andcommunity groups; the Young Friend of the Almeida scheme; and a subsidised ticketscheme for schools with introductory workshops and resource materials. For moreinformation please visit our website.www.almeida.co.uk/educationAlmeida Projects is supported by:National Lottery through Arts Council of EnglandSue Baring & Andre NewburgJames & Erica DicksonThe Foundation for Sport and the ArtsGrocer’s Company Charitable TrustThe Peter Harrison FoundationJ.P. MorganMr & Mrs David LakhdhirThe Noel Coward FoundationPinsent MasonsJan & Michael TophamAndrew Wilkinson, Goldman SachsLady Alexander of Weedon