SHAKESPEARE’S Measure for Measure may have been written centuries ago but it still has an astonishing resonance with life today.

Audiences will have the opportunity to judge for themselves with the play having just opened a run at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The story focuses on a young novice nun who is compromised by a corrupt official by offering to save her brother from execution in return for sex.

She has no idea where to turn for help and when she threatens to expose him, he tells her that no one would believe her.

Artistic Director, Gregory Doran, directs a play with astonishing contemporary resonance.

When a young novice nun is compromised by a corrupt official, who offers to save her brother from execution in return for sex, she has no idea where to turn for help. When she threatens to expose him, he tells her that no one would believe her. 

Shakespeare wrote this play in the early 1600s, yet it remains astonishingly resonant today.

Juliet is played by Amy Trigg in what is her RSC debut season. She has appeared earlier this season in The Taming of the Shrew and television viewers might recognise her from Doctors and Stella.

Pompey will be played by the talented David Ajao, whose previous RSC roles include Hecuba, Othello and The Merchant of Venice.

The play will be directed by the RSC’s artistic director, Gregory Doran, and will play the theatre until August 29.

**A review of the show will appear later this week.