Measure for Measure

If you could slip from your skin, and walk the streets in the body of another, what might you learn about the world, about others - and about yourself? An unusual case is brought before the stand-in ruler of a discontented city, and an unorthodox reprieve is offered for the crime. Should a sister give up her body for the life of her brother? Sexual politics and the dynamics of power are picked apart in a centuries-old story that still hits home today. Continuing on our themes of justice and moral interrogation, Measure for Measure is a play of questions, difficult decisions, and controversial answers. There have been over 20 productions of Shakespeare’s plays at Riverside over the last 50 years, but one of the first to be produced, in 1979, was a staging of the unusual and intriguing drama of Measure for Measure, starring Helen Mirren in the role of Isabella. Other important productions