Measure to Measure

UEA Studio

Poor old Vienna. From Measure to Measure to the Third Man, it has become a byword for moral decay.

At UEA Studio, the city is depicted in a falling-down state - weeds grow in the cracks, and the stones crumble from the walls.

Prostitutes wander the streets and at every street corner the shadows wriggle with vice.

It's a rich breeding ground for tyranny, and its ugly head rears up in the fair-seeming shape of Angela - Angelo in the original - a repressed lesbian of deceptively reasonable aspect (Megan Bay Dorman).

The Duke gives her the job of lashing back on the lewd practices of their society and then disappears to let her sort out the muddle. But she overdoes it - her first edict is to punish sin out of wedlock with death.

This joke ruling is not funny for Claudio (William Hann) a nice chap, whose girlfriend (Zoe Smith) is now pregnant.

But when Claudio's sister, nun Isabella (Miranda Bryant) intercedes, the mincing head of state finds her resolve weaken and lust blossom. A play for our times and, with a fresh cast playing tonight, potentially full of surprises!