Measure for Measure, Silk Street Theatre, London - review

What makes a good leader? It's a question that preoccupies Shakespeare in much of his work, never more so than in this troubling account of a Duke who leaves his deputy in charge, resulting in a period of deadly authoritarian rule. In Declan Donnellan's riveting modern-dress staging (a co-production between Cheek by Jowl and Moscow's Pushkin Theatre), the play becomes a gripping moral thriller. The all-Russian ensemble plays it as if it were written yesterday and while the staging never explicitly makes connections with contemporary Russia, Isabella's words about the corrupting dangers of power ring out more clearly than ever.

It begins with what looks like a playground game. The cast roams the stage, compacted together like a shoal of fish. Not a word is spoken, but every now and then one figure becomes isolated. This silent prelude seems fanciful at first, but it traces out themes in the drama - the interplay between leader and people, between government and individual - and establishes the physicality of this swift, sleek staging. From here on, the chorus is ever-present, cowering behind giant red boxes to watch what is happening, scurrying from scene to scene and then retreating to leave the spotlight on whoever is to feel the heat next.

It's excellent, sharp storytelling, ensuring that although the text is delivered in Russian (with English surtitles), the narrative is clear. Individual motives, meanwhile, are revealed as complex and compromised. Andrei Kuzichev's small, trim Angelo is chilling as he warms to his newfound power, neatly stacking paperwork as he pronounces death on "fornicator" Claudio. But when Claudio's sister Isabella, a nun, comes to plead for her brother, Kuzichev becomes downright creepy, running his hands down the legs of her chair as he is seized by lust for her. His subsequent demand puts everyone concerned in moral torment.

Alexander Arsentyev's Duke, meanwhile, a fidgety, flustered man who struggles with the public expectations of office, appears to grow in understanding through his sojourn, in disguise, among the victims of Angelo's punitive rule. But while he manages to avert disaster, questions remain, not only over his initial retreat from responsibility but also over the happy ending he engineers. Donnellan draws out the ambivalence of the final scene, with Anna Khalilulina's excellent, shell-shocked Isabella staring dumbfounded at the Duke as he proposes to her. It's a richly-layered, urgent telling of a play that feels more pertinent than ever.

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