Measure for Measure

"Unsettling poignancy. Vivid and uncommonly moving."
The New York Times

Written by William Shakespeare
Performed in Russian with surtitles
Running time 1 hour 50 minutes, no interval
2013–2019

With his unique brew of laughter and high seriousness, Shakespeare dissects the nature of government, love, and justice – asking unsettling questions about how we are governed, exploring the “complex relationships between those in power, and ordinary citizens” (Kristina Matvienko).

Measure for Measure has been nominated for five Golden Mask awards, including Best Large Scale Drama Production and Best Director for Declan Donnellan.

Hailed in Moscow as “a shattering portrait of contemporary Russia” (Novaya Gazeta), Cheek by Jowl’s Measure for Measure, through “a series of swiftly changing spectacular scenes” (Teatral) explodes as “a real thriller, piercing the heart of the entire audience” (Mir 24).

"Measure for Measure is about many different things; it always strikes me as a very modern play. It’s a play about control and how one of the ways that we are controlled, by not only governments, but by churches and other institutions that seek to control us, is shame. We are controlled by shame. It starts with parents and it develops, and it is an extremely good way of controlling people."
– Artistic Director Declan Donnellan

Produced by Cheek by Jowl and the Pushkin Theatre, Moscow in a co-production with the Barbican, London; Les Gémeaux/Sceaux/Scène Nationale; Centro Dramático Nacional, Madrid (INAEM).

Cast and creative team

Cast

Name	Character
Alexander Arsentyev	The Duke
Alexander Feklistov	Lucio
Anna Vardevanian	Isabella
Nikolay Kislichenko	Elbow
Andrei Kuzichev	Angelo
Anastasia Lebedeva	Juliet/Francis
Ivan Litvinenko	Executioner
Alexander Matrosov	Provost
Elmira Mirel	Mariana/Mistress Overdone
Alexey Rakhmanov	Pompey
Yuri Rumyantsev	Escalus
Petr Rykov	Claudio
Igor Teplov	Barnadine

Creative Team

Role	Name
Director	Declan Donnellan
Designer	Nick Ormerod
Assistant Director	Kirill Sbitnev
Lighting Designer	Sergei Skornetsky
Composer	Pavel Akimkin
Choreographer	Irina Kashuba
Technical Director	Alexander Solomin
Lighting	Pavel Bolotin
Sound	Evgeniia Bilinkis
Wardrobe	Elena Vorobyeva
Props	Ekaterina Vitushkina
Makeup	Elizaveta Pravosudova
Stagehand	Vladimir Mazlov
Stage Manager	Marina Krymova
Surtitle Editing	Anna Kolesnikova
Surtitle Operator & Interpreter	Liliia Kazakova
Consultant Producer	Anna Kolesnikova
General Manager of the Pushkin Theatre	Anna Volk
Artistic Director of the Pushkin Theatre	Evgeny Pisarev
Production Photography	Johan Persson

Previous performances

Previous Performances

Date	Location
6–7 April 2019	Meiningen, Meininger Staatstheater, Germany
25 December 2018	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
24–28 October 2018	Boston, Arts Emerson, USA
16–21 October 2018	New York City, BAM, USA
10–13 October 2018	Washington, The Kennedy Center, D.C, USA
28 April 2018	Craiova, International Shakespeare Festival Craiova, Romania
28 March 2018	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
14 February 2018	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
18–19 October 2017	Quimper, Théâtre de Cornouaille, France
4 August 2017	Gdansk, Gdański Teatr Szekspirowski, Poland
7–11 January 2017	Sydney, Roslyn Packer Theatre (Sydney Festival), Australia
29 November 2016	Cluj-Napoca, Teatrul Maghiar de Stat Cluj, Romania
14 October 2016	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
16–20 August 2016	Edinburgh, Royal Lyceum Theatre, UK
1–7 August 2016	Elsinore, Hamlet’s Castle (Kronborg), Denmark
24 April 2016	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
27–31 January 2016	Chicago, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, USA
31 October 2015	Murcia, Teatro Circo Murcia, Spain
28–29 October 2015	Girona, Teatre Municipal de Girona (Temporada Alta), Spain
23 October 2015	Vitoria-Gasteiz, Teatro Principal Antzokia, Spain
2 October 2015	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
25 September 2015	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
17–18 June 2015	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
2–3 June 2015	Omsk, Omsk Drama Theatre, Russia
28 April–2 May 2015	Oxford, Oxford Playhouse, UK
22 April 2015	Worldwide, Livestream from Barbican, UK
15–25 April 2015	London, Barbican, UK
28 March 2015	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
6 March 2015	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
9–31 January 2015	Sceaux, Les Gémeaux, Paris, France
14 December 2014	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
23 November 2014	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
5 November 2014	Moscow , Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
12 October 2014	Tallin, Vene Theatre, Estonia
10 October 2014	Tartu, Vanemuine Theatre, Estonia
18–21 September 2014	Madrid, Teatro María Guerrero (Centro Dramático Nacional), Spain
30 May 2014	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
11 May 2014	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
5–6 April 2014	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
14 March 2014	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
9 March 2014	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
8 February 2014	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
4 February 2014	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
25–26 January 2014	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
26 December 2013	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
18 December 2013	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
6 December 2013	Moscow, Pushkin Drama Theatre, Russia
1994	See also – Cheek by Jowl’s previous 1994 production of Measure for Measure

Awards and reviews

Awards

Outstanding Visiting Production 2019
Boston Theater Critics Association’s 37th Elliot Norton Awards

Golden Mask Award Nomination 2013–14
Best Large Scale Production – Measure for Measure
Best Director – Declan Donnellan
Best Set Design – Nick Ormerod
Best Male Performance – Andrei Kuzichev as Angelo

Golden Mask Award 2013–14
Best Lighting Design – Sergei Skornetsky

Reviews

UK

“Declan Donnellan’s Russian cast are so electrifyingly intense and disturbing that they make your hair stand on end.”
Kate Bassett, The Times. Read the full review

“A gripping moral thriller”
Sarah Hemming, Financial Times

“Like a punch to the guts”
Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph. Read the full review

“A punchy reminder that power corrupts”
Lyn Gardner, The Guardian. Read the full review

“Real, thought-provoking finesse”
Paul Taylor, The Independent. Read the full review

“A stylish and cut-throat examination”
Honour Bayes, The Stage. Read the full review

“Stunningly encapsulated”
Michael Coveney, What’s On Stage. Read the full review

“fascinating and frequently gripping”
Patrick Marmion, Time Out. Read the full review

“Hits new, uncompromising heights of a kind we rarely see on the British stage”
David Nice, Arts Desk. Read the full review

France

“Declan Donnellan’s Measure for Measure furiously evokes contemporary Russia.”
Hugues Le Tanneur, Les Inrocktibles

“Theatre at its most beautiful.”
Armelle Heliot, Le Figaro. Read the full review

“Here is a world that portrays the oppressive authoritarian regime… where control and corruption go hand in hand.”
Hugues Le Tanneur, Liberation. Read the full review

“Declan Donnellan’s Measure for Measure is full of the Russian soul.”
Phillipe Chevilley, Les Echos

“Scenes that are worth all the talk.”
Didier Méreuze, La Croix. Read the full review

“Remarkable. We salute all of the Pushkin Theatre’s actors.”
Corinne Denailles, Web Theatre. Read the full review

Russia

“Donnellan’s exquisite mastery is beyond doubt. But here even more importantly he manages to convey with power and conviction the eternal conflict between the self interest of those who rule and the people who crave for mercy; between the double-dealer and those who suffer beneath his yoke. Shakespeare gives a for-all-times definition of the idea of opposition, its meaning only having increased as time has passed, and increased infinitely.”
Marina Tokareva, Novaya Gazeta

“Russia today anatomised in Declan Donnellan’s new show, an immaculate performance. Trenchant, compelling, stunning, the entire company are breathtaking.”
Vash Dosug

“From every point of view this production is a total success.”
Nezavisimaya Gazeta

“Authentically Russian.”
RBK Daily

“A shattering portrait of contemporary Russia.”
Novaya Gazeta

“Donnellan is not the first foreign director to work in Russia, but probably the first to have felt the true spirit of Russian theatre, its absolute essence. The greatest traditions of Russian theatre pulse through his work.”
Ria Weekend