BWW Reviews: CHEEK BY JOWL MEASURE FOR MEASURE, Silk Street Theatre Barbican, April 16 2015

One of the many ways in which constitutional monarchies support democracies is the way they deflect the forelock-tugging tendency present in both the ruled and those doing the ruling into areas much less dangerous for all concerned. Crudely put, a citizen can say "Yes, Your Majesty..." all day long (to someone with no political power) and then throw rotten tomatoes all night long (at those who do have political power). Things were not like that in Russia under the feudal rule of the Tsars and things were not like that under the quasi-feudal rule of its Red Tsars who followed them either. And things are still not like that under its current ruler President, Vladimir Putin. In Russia, nothing is quite as it seems, nor as was intended.

Though ostensibly set in Vienna, Cheek by Jowl's Measure for Measure (at the Silk Street Theatre until 25 April, live streamed on 22 April and on tour) is about Russia. It is a joint production with the Pushkin Theatre, performed in Russian with English surtitles - we don't quite get that magnificent national anthem, but it's Russia all right. That ensures that we see the handover of power at the start of the play through Russian eyes - it may be Vincentio placing Angelo in charge of Vienna while he is away, but it's also Catherine The Great handing over (eventually) to Nicholas II; it's Lenin handing over to Stalin, it's Yeltsin handing over to Putin. Give a man power and beware the consequences.

Angelo, small. slight. bespectacled sits at his desk and pulls on the levers of state, the better to repress its citizens, a Yezhov of his time. But when he condemns Claudio to death for fornication, his cold heartless world is turned upside-down by the arrival of his sister, Isabella, a novice nun who pleads for Claudio's life and captures Angelo's heart, one filled not with love, but with lust. Meanwhile, Vincentio has not left the city, but is spying on its people in the disguise of a lowly friar and - as Angelo's arbitrary rule becomes more and more cruel - he returns to right the wrongs and accept the acclaim of the populace. Or so he expects...

Heavy stuff? Well, ideas about statecraft, about the quality of mercy, about the state and the individual are heavy, but there's a dark comedy running through the play too - and a happyish ending. But it's the staging and the acting that really lighten the load (a not inconsiderable load at two hours or so with no interval, spent reading fast moving text with one eye and watching the action with the other). The cast stay in view for most scenes, underlining the fact that much of the play is set in the public domain: political power is visible, its abuse protested, but not halted.

Andrei Kuzichev is hideous as the amoral Angelo, ruthless in office, yet weak and dissembling when overcome with desire for Isabella. He never quite becomes a thoroughgoing villain though - we still feel that he's been dealt a difficult hand by Vincentio (a charismatic, if confused, Alexander Arsentyev) and is doing what he sincerely believes to be morally correct. Petr Rykov is all alpha-male as Claudio, a victim with few reservations about making others victims of his barely controlled id (until he has a babe in arms). Elmira Mirel is also very good as Mariana, Angelo's jilted lover - she's much too good for him!

The standout performance and the moral centre of the play, is Anna Khalilulina's Isabella, a novice in a habit cut like few I've seen outside Italian giallo films of the 70s. This is a woman whom one completely believes could tempt men as powerful as Angelo and Vincentio, yet also one whose virtue, challenged by the appalling dilemmas placed before her, would stand up to examination. By the end of the play, she seems to realise her earthly powers may be worth exploiting, the better to do God's will, but - this is a "problem play" after all - we're not really told. Nevertheless, Ms Khalilulina is compelling in every scene.

Get a good night's sleep, don't forget your glasses and be prepared to think a bit - and you'll enjoy the show. It's intelligent entertainment from Cheek by Jowl, who continue to specialise in exactly that.

Photo Johan Persson

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