Part 1 of Essay
The Stratford Festival's rendition of "Measure for Measure", one of Shakespeare's original "problem plays", can only be called mediocre at best. While the drab, lifeless sets at first create an aura of poverty and des- titution that may or may not have been prevailent in 17th century Vienna, the lack of variety eventually ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... with boredom (e.g. Isabella's laughably unimpassioned speech to Angelo), and momentary spots of humour (e.g. the some-times hilarious exchange between Lucio, a servant to the Duke, and the Duke disguised as a friar. This moment of ironic comedy is certainly one of the play's highlights, and is a model for many modern humour pieces) which all serve to create a less than enthralling afternoon of "not so high" drama. I will not attempt to explain the plot, as one of the play's redeeming factors is the suspense ....