The limits of power, justice and morality are themes that go through Shakespeare’s “Measure by Measure”, which the Almada Theatre Company will premiere on October 30, at the Joaquim Benite Municipal Theatre.
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22/08/2026
by
Lusa
A play will be directed by the spanish director Ignacio García, in the fourth stage he makes for the Almada Theatre Company (CTA) and alerts to the fact that it is a piece “hard to classify” although initially defined as comedy, it is read in the director’s note on the show.
The action of “Measure by Measure” focuses on Angelo’s choice to replace the Duke of Vienna during his absence from the city, and on the fact that he takes advantage of the office to shed his wickedness, according to the synopsis of the play. Angelo will convict Claudius to death, for failure to comply with the legal procedures of marriage to Juliet, who married pregnant, and when Isabella, Claudius' sister, intercedes for him, Angelo demands his virginity in exchange for his brother's life.
Upon learning of this blackmail, the Duke of Vienna articulates a plan with Mariana, Angelo's former bride, exposing the hypocrisy of the character.
“The goodness or preservation of power, the usurpation of identity, justice or injustice exercised by governments, the love and lust that is entangled and entangled until they are confused, loyalty and betrayal as the face and crown of the human condition itself” are, according to Ignacio García, Shakespeare’s recurring themes present in the play.
In an atmosphere of “intrinsy, lying, betrayal and immorality [...] measuring and being measured, always and incessantly, judging and being judged without rest, living the unhappiness of constant and permanent supervision, merciless, with hope as the only remedy, because, as the text says: the unhappy have no other remedy but hope”, the director stresses.
On the scene in the main room of the Teatro Municipal Joaquim Benite, in Almada, until 29 November, with recites on Friday and Saturday, at 9:00 p.m., and on Thursday and Sunday, at 4:00 p.m., “Measure by Measure” has translation of Fernando Villas-Boas, version of José Gabriel Antuñano, census by José Manuel Castanheira, costumes by Sérgio Loureiro, drawing of light by Guilherme Frazão and video by Pedro Castanheira.
To interpret are André Pardal, Ana Cris, Duarte Grilo, Duarte Guimarães, João Cabral, João Didelet, João Jesus, Maria João Falcão, Marina Albuquerque and Pedro Walter.