3.27 Measure for Measure (1603) in Full

Film Adaptation

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Director Desmond Davis based the brothel in the play on a traditional Western saloon and the prison on a typical horror film dungeon.  The role of the Duke was originally offered to Alec Guinness. When he turned it down, the role was offered to a further thirty-one actors, before Kenneth Colley finally accepted the part.  The set for the episode was a 360-degree set backed by a cyclorama, which allowed actors to move from location to location without cutting - actors could walk through the streets of Vienna by circumnavigating the studio eight times.  For the interview scenes, Davis decided to link them aesthetically and shot both in the same manner; Angelo was shot upwards from waist level to make him look large, Isabella was shot from further away so more background was visible in her shots, making her appear smaller. Gradually, the shots then move towards each other's style so that, by the end of the scene, they are both shot in the same framing.

Reference:  Measure for Measure, Behind-the-scenes.

Kate Nelligan, as Isabella 

I was enamored with actress Kate Nelligan, who suffused my view of Isabella in the play with a longing and a romance.  Drawn so, I was glad for the Duke's machinations.  He deftly turned the amorous, ill-intentioned Angelo from having forbidden sex with Isabella, to having sex with his estranged but lawful wife.  It is this seedy scheming that makes "Measure for Measure" a dark comedy.    

Full Theatrical Reading

Complete Text

Measure for Measure

Note. The numbers in the title refer to the play number (3.27) and publication year (1603), which Wikipedia noted based on the Oxford chronology.