Declan Donnellan, joint artistic director of theatre company Cheek by Jowl, talks about the creation of his new Russian-language production of Measure for Measure, the unceasing relevance of Shakespeare’s works, and the beauty of experiencing them in another language

Measure for Measure is about a man who cannot govern his state, who is anxious to the point of inarticulacy about exercising power. So he lets someone else make his decisions for him. It is a big mistake. But he learns something.

Measure for Measure is about how we live within society, what we do in groups: we are social animals. It is about how we police each other, love each other, imprison each other, how we look after each other, how we punish each other, how we need each other. It is about life in the modern city, where we can be completely lost and also found. It is about modern bourgeois life, where we form strange families, and love arrives unexpectedly. It is about corruption, not only in the state, but also about our own capacity to be corrupt.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death and, of course, his works are as relevant now as they were in the 17th century.

We perform William Shakespeare’s plays because we are interested in ourselves, and Shakespeare is endlessly fascinating. If his plays are only about dead people and how they behave, then we probably won’t even read him even for academic interest.

But Shakespeare is completely fascinated in human beings; he is fascinated by human life. His plays are about what it is to be a living human being and how we relate to ourselves, to each other, how we form families, groups, states.

Of course, performing work in Russian is not new to Cheek by Jowl. Some of the actors in Measure for Measure are actors that Cheek by Jowl co-founder Nick Ormerod and I have been working with for more than 16 years.

People sometimes ask me why we decided to perform work in languages other than our own, and I think that often, you can see things in a new light by being blinded partially. When you’re not confused by word, you can see something else.

Measure has performed in Russia, Spain, Estonia and France before coming to London, with Oxford next. People don’t see language, they see people.

And it’s the people they are drawn to.

Following its sold-out run at the Barbican, London, Measure for Measure will play at the Oxford Playhouse from Monday until Saturday, May 2. For tickets, visit oxfordplayhouse.com