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Research your own Shakespeare play: Measure for Measure. What is the play about? When was it first performed? Give some attention to your own character and their role in the play.

Measure for Measure is one of Shakespeare's lesser known plays, written between 1603 and 1604. Technically it is defined as a problem play however there is a lot of comic dialogue written in throughout the script that made me assume it was a comedy when I first read it. Its classed as a problem play because of its shift in mood, it begins with the problem of the brothels being shut down, the recent ruthless rule of Angelo due to the duke’s absence and the sentencing of Claudio. Its up to the characters within the play to solve these problems and any others that arise as the play progresses. The play is very complex in its plot due to the sheer amount that is going on at the same time. It begins with the rule being handed over to a very authoritarian Angelo as the duke, while pretending to go on leave, remains in the city of Vienna disguised as a Friar. Angelo then sentence's the budding nun Isabella’s brother to death for getting a women he isn’t married to pregnant, although they are in a relationship. Isabella then goes on a journey to try and get the sentenced revoked, which involves Angelo bargaining a one night stand in return for his life and the guidance of the duke disguised as a friar. Long story short, there is a lot of confusion and a lot of going back and forth between many different ideas and plans until they are able to come to a solution. Meanwhile the brothels are being closed and the law is trying to catch and condemn all the heads of these types of organisations. The play is resolved at the end with Claudio being reunited and married to his lover Juliette, Angelo being forced to marry Mariana whom he wronged and slept with when she was pretending to be Isabella and the duke proposing to Isabella, all of which is a supposedly happy ending. The play tackles a vast range of different themes, some of which are; religion, abuse of power, justice,  prostitution, the role of women and authoritarian rule.

The first recorded performance of Measure for Measure was in 1604, but was originally published in the First Folio in 1623 where it was listed as a comedy. The play seems to draw inspiration from two sources, these are ‘The Story of Epitia’ and the play ‘Promos and Cassandra’. ‘The story of Epitia’ is a tragedy where similar characters to Isabella, Angelo and Claudio exist in the same scenario except in that version of events the Isabella of the play is forced to sleep with their Angelo and her brother is still killed despite this, therefore it is a much more brutal account of events but nevertheless you can see that Shakespeare may have used it as a basis for his own play. Since its creation in the 1600s there have been countless performances and versions of the play, even resulting in a film being made of Measure for Measure using lego simpson action figures. In 2015 a film version was also made, entitled M4M, where Isabella was changed into a male character thus bringing in the concept of homosexulaity into the play. The character of Isabella has often been seen as one of virtue and purity due to her interest and devotion to the nunnery and God, which really shines through when she refuses to give up her virginity in order to save Claudio’s life. There has always been a big debate around whether this is true or not as if she was truly virtuous would she not sacrifice herself to save her brother instead of putting herself first and declining. Isabella is one of 5 female characters within the play, all of whom seem to comment on ano reflect certain issues and aspects of sexual attitudes and behaviour. The play shows us the two ends of the spectrum, at one end we have Mistress Overdone who is a well known prostitute that runs quite a lot of the brothels. Her attitudes towards sex and relationships are very different to those like Sister Francisca and Isabella who are both nuns are therefore have pledged a vow of celibacy. The last female character is Juliet, the girlfriend of Claudio whom he gets pregnant before marriage. These other 4 female characters are the ones that Isabella's actions, in terms of how she handles her sexuality and preferences, will be weighted up and compared against.

Find a contemporary production of the play you can get an idea of and research it in terms of concept, style, design, casting.

In 2004 Complicite did a version of Measure for Measure, with Simon Mcburney as the director. The piece was 135 minutes long without an interval, and was created in collaboration with the National Theatre. Mcburney took a more serious and brutal approach to the play, choosing to focus on the negativity that surrounds Angelos strict rule and the tightening of the law, thus portraying it in the context of a repressive state. They modernized the play so that Angelo was a young neo-con who decided to turn the lax society he inherits into a state that has no democracy and is very brutal in how it creates control and presents corruption, the world of the play includes all hour surveillance, prison beatings, arbitrary punishments and rigged trials. The world they create is so relevant to our society and the modern world, with references to George Bush and Guantanamo Bay littered throughout the play to just outline how it links to this era. I thought the concept surrounding the version is very insightful and important in terms of the message it gives, it hones into and emphasizes one of the larger themes about authoritarian rule and corrupt use of someone’s powers and uses that theme to bring the entire body to text into the modern day as those issues are still something that is very present within some governments making the production very successful. To reflect these issues the play was staged on a very bare set, bringing attention to how the world of the play is one devoid of human contact, expression, freedom of speech and all things that come to make up who you are as these have been stripped away within the strict regime. This production also had an interesting take on the characters within Measure for Measure, specifically the psychological aspects. For example Paul Rhys's Angelo had a huge element of a threatening hysteria that seemed to show up how flawed he was mentally, including an aspect to Angelo where he self mutilates himself highlighting how unstable he is. The main theme of abuse, exploration and manipulation of power that this play explored carried through into how each character was portrayed. The corruption of the system was highlighted in how Pompey was able to flick between being a underdog pimp who would have been looked down on, to a well respected state official with a lot of power despite his wrong doings and seemingly unlawful past. It also came through in how the Duke was portrayed, specifically in his proposal to Isabella which the guardian called 'a demonstration of brutal authority', giving the impression that they had decided to bring out the more sinister motives within each character throughout the play.