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Measure for Measure

by William Shakespeare

What happens when a Duke hands over his power to his second-in-command and wanders the streets in disguise to watch as events unfold? What if that second-in-command pursues his obsession to purify society of sexual corruption, yet finds himself caught up in his own erotic dream? And what if a young man finds himself condemned to death for fornication, the price of his life is his sister's virginity, and his sister is a nun?

Wickedly comic, unbearably raw and strangely tender, Measure for Measure is one of Shakespeare's most unpredictable and least classifiable dramas.

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Charles Spencer - The Daily Telegraph, 17 February 2006

Disconcerting. Vile. Superb. More

Quentin Letts - Daily Mail, 16 February 2006

Dazzling ... I enjoyed it beyond measure More

Scherazade Kaikobad - The Times of India, 5 November 2005

With powerful acting and brilliant direction ... this production makes for one terribly rocky emotional and rational roller-coaster ride. read article

Subuhi Jiwan - DNA India, 5 November 2005

"I've re-shaped the scenes and thrown in some Hindi. If Shakespeare was alive he would do so too." read article

Meena Menon - The Hindu, 15 May 2005

"We are hoping not only to bring our production but also make connections deeper than that. It's the beginning of something..." read article

Susannah Clapp - The Observer, 30 May 2004

Never has Measure for Measure been so disturbing...Suddenly the play looks brutal, contradictory, unresolved: barbaric and Christian and modern. read article

Michael Billington - The Guardian, 28 May 2004

No doubt about it, Simon McBurney's production is brilliant... read article

Benedict Nightingale - The Times, 28 May 2004

I’ve seldom enjoyed this tricky play more... read article

Emma Crighton-Miller - The Times, 24 May 2004

McBurney slaps the prostitute's bottom with his hand: "People go on about justice in Measure for Measure, but it's just as much about sex." read article

Heather Neill - Independent on Sunday, 23 May 2004

He is a theatrical legend who needs to be 'constantly disobedient'... read article

Performed in repertory at the National's Olivier Theatre, May to July 2004, as part of the National Theatre Travelex £10 Season. 2005 tour to Wroclaw, Poland as part of Theatre Festival Dialog; Teatro de la Vaguada de Madrid as part of the Festival de Otono; Prithvi Theatre and Jamshed Bhabha Mumbai, India; Ranga Shankara, Bangalore India; Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Italy; Maison de la Culture de Grenoble, France and Haus de Berliner Festspiele, Germany. 2006 revival for National's Lyttelton Theatre