A play that has been revered by critics as Shakespeare’s most difficult and compelling problem play has recently been performed at the Young Vic in The Cut, London. Joe Hill-Gibbins new production demands your attention throughout his new directorial feat of Shakespeare’s play, Measure for Measure. The two hour long play with no interval may seem daunting, but once the production begins the time flies. This Young Vic production holds no punches in grabbing your attention from the outset and throughout. With all of the seats deliberately facing the stage, it naturally calls for one’s attention to focus on the stage and therefore becomes fully engrossed in the play. The demographic for this play appears to be for young adults to those in their
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The use of the religious imagery throughout the play solidifies the idea that religion is a key concept in this production. Throughout the production there are images of religious significance, these come in many forms. During the play there are religious pictures on the stage wall such as one of a serpent similar the one that tempted Eve, much like Angelo tries to tempt Isabella into breaking her vows by sleeping with him. In another instance, Mariana lies on the floor in the left corner of the stage with a phone up to her ear listening to a song on repeat. There is no explanation as to why she is there or as to who she is until Isabella learns of Mariana and her connection to Angelo. Behind where she lies there is a picture of Angelo in a religious, glorified state. This resembled those that one would see of religious figures and saints.
When introduced to Mariana the audience finds out who she is and Mariana passionately begins singing the song ‘You Oughta Know’ by Alanis Morissette released on the album Jagged Little Pill in 1995. Those of the target demographic recognised this song immediately while much of the older audience did not. This song is a declaration of the singers rage to an ex-partner about them moving on to another girlfriend (Songfacts, 2015) drawing a parallel between The couple from the song and Angelo and Mariana with Isabella being the new object of his …show more content…
The quote comes from the book of Matthew and reads “‘Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged and with what measure ye measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you again.’ (Matthew 7:1-2)” (Young Vic, no date). In addition to this, there were further religious pictures shown on the stage such as that of the serpent that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden much like Angelo is attempting to tempt Isabella to have sexual intercourse with him in order to save her
The use of the religious imagery throughout the play solidifies the idea that religion is a key concept in this production. Throughout the production there are images of religious significance, these come in many forms. During the play there are religious pictures on the stage wall such as one of a serpent similar the one that tempted Eve, much like Angelo tries to tempt Isabella into breaking her vows by sleeping with him. In another instance, Mariana lies on the floor in the left corner of the stage with a phone up to her ear listening to a song on repeat. There is no explanation as to why she is there or as to who she is until Isabella learns of Mariana and her connection to Angelo. Behind where she lies there is a picture of Angelo in a religious, glorified state. This resembled those that one would see of religious figures and saints.
When introduced to Mariana the audience finds out who she is and Mariana passionately begins singing the song ‘You Oughta Know’ by Alanis Morissette released on the album Jagged Little Pill in 1995. Those of the target demographic recognised this song immediately while much of the older audience did not. This song is a declaration of the singers rage to an ex-partner about them moving on to another girlfriend (Songfacts, 2015) drawing a parallel between The couple from the song and Angelo and Mariana with Isabella being the new object of his …show more content…
The quote comes from the book of Matthew and reads “‘Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged and with what measure ye measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you again.’ (Matthew 7:1-2)” (Young Vic, no date). In addition to this, there were further religious pictures shown on the stage such as that of the serpent that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden much like Angelo is attempting to tempt Isabella to have sexual intercourse with him in order to save her