Measure for Measure

'The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept.' Injustice, hypocrisy and the challenge of inflexible virtue combine in Shakespeare’s most searching exploration of sexual politics and social justice. Angelo, in his zeal for observing the letter of the law, begins a ruthless programme to stamp out sexual licence, in the course of which he condemns one Claudio to death. Surely Claudio’s virginal sister Isabella, a novice nun seeking mercy for her brother, could not awake the lust of this cold, censorious man?