DOMINIC DROMGOOLE, in his final production as director of the Globe Theatre, provides an unusually comic slant to what is often referred to as one of Shakespeare’s “problem” plays.

The plot of Measure for Measure revolves around the plight of Isabella who, on the point of committing herself to a life of chastity in a nunnery, must plead clemency for her brother Claudio, sentenced to death for impregnating his betrothed.

Claudio has been condemned by the ascetic Angelo who, imbued with moral rectitude, is deeply troubled by the bawdiness of Vienna.

He rules over the city in the place of the absent Duke who, it turns out, has remained in Vienna in ecclesiastical disguise. He watches as Angelo attempts to corrupt Isabella, demanding her virginity in exchange for her brother’s life.

Pimps, bawds and tapsters offset this unsettling plot and Dromgoole’s production uses the energy and comedy of their scenes to drive the play’s action forward.

Often that humour infects the darker moments, as when Dominic Rowan’s excellent Duke plays on the problems he has with his friar’s disguise and he has some wonderful scenes with Brendan O’Hea’s entertaining Lucio.

The staging is excellent, with miniature “houses of resort” sharing the space of the groundlings, enabling direct audience identification with the low-life characters.

While perhaps on occasion the comedy overwhelms, one of the strengths of the production is the ability of the cast to shift the mood.

Mariah Gale, in particular, brings an intelligent and affecting gravity to Isabella and her scenes with the equally effective Kurt Egyiawan as Angelo are intense, drawing an audible gasp as he declares his love while violently grabbing hold of her.

Dromgoole’s production asks more questions than it answers at the play’s conclusion.

Isabella throws her hands to her head in disbelief when the Duke proposes marriage but later moves towards him with outstretched hands and the moment would seem to sit with the production’s humorous undercurrent — marriage is, after all, the traditional resolution of comedy.

But, in so doing, the ambiguity, danger and desire Isabella repeatedly provokes in powerful men is somewhat obscured amid the laughter.

Review by Katherine M Graham