Measure for Measure
1979: Desmond Davis

This production is one of the earliest and one of the best of the BBC Shakespeare series, and it deals with what that series delivered best: top-notch acting presented with a minimum of frills. Despite the modest budget for the production, it manages to pack a serious punch.

The keynote of the production (perhaps unsurprisingly) is balance. The plot and the characters both require it. Kate Nelligan plays Isabella with a fine balance of power and restraint, supported by a sense of intelligence and spiritual depth, emotion and reason. Kenneth Colley (whose most famous role was undoubtedly his turn as the slightly intimidated Captain/Admiral Piett in The Empire Strikes Back) here juggles both the ambiguous diction and the nuances of the dual role of the Duke/Friar without straying too far in either direction. He is admirable and suspicious, godlike and demonic, appealing and repellent, and apparently always in charge. It is said that several dozen other actors turned the role down before he accepted it, but it would be hard to imagine the role being done better. Tim Pigott-Smith shows us Angelo’s dark hypocrisy, but it is all the more pungent because he clearly is yet moved by purity and honor, even as he is trying to destroy them. It is not impossible to believe at the last that even he may be redeemable.

The minor parts are no less polished: Lucio is played by John McEnery, who cut a more conspicuous figure as Mercutio in the Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet (1968). He is brilliantly annoying, but also convivial and appealing. The low clownish characters Pompey, Elbow, and Mistress Overdone deliver their ludicrous lines with relish and conviction; Claudio and Juliet are endearingly sincere, with just the barest whisper of intellect between them.

There is nothing explicit in the production that should offend anyone willing to read the play in the first place. The text certainly contains themes that could raise eyebrows, because that’s what the play is about. But in realizing that content, it imposes nothing else that should be objectionable; it delivers the story solidly and with finesse.

Buy the complete BBC Shakespeare Plays at Amazon. Note that this will require a Region 2 player or a region-free player: it will not play on most normal American DVD players. Nevertheless, the price is so reasonable that even with a region-free player thrown into the deal, you’ll come out ahead.

Buy the complete set of the BBC Shakespeare Plays or individual plays (including this one) in Region 1 format direct from Ambrose Video.