Measure for Measure

Vienna is ravaged by a highly contagious virus that spreads into a pandemic. The governing duke can’t be bothered to decide between ‘moral and mortality’ and enact unpopular measures; he withdraws from office and transfers power to the ascetic, prudish Lord Angelo, who immediately mandates curfews and no-contact rules. This does not go down well in the hedonistic, self-centred and highly sexualised society, and soon there is violent protest.

‘Life is a comedy of errors’ is the leitmotif in Thomas Melle’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘problem play’, which initially stays close to the original but then takes a radical turn into contemporary insanity. Wild conspiracy theories are voiced, positions collide in an aggressive cacophony, lewdness becomes immeasurable and the comedy explodes.