MERCHANT OF VENICE, William Shakespeare, Swan and touring till 11 May 2002
MERCHANT OF VENICE: William Shakespeare
The Swan (till 19 Jan 2002) Touring (till 11 May – further venues to be announced)
Tkts (The Swan) 01789 403403
Runs: 3h, one interval
Review: Rod Dungate, 4 December 2001)
A production full of testosterone, with an internalised Shylock that heightens the uncomfortable anti-Semitic elements of the play
Director, Loveday Ingram's production is a testosterone driven affair. Nothing wrong with that, the opening scenes between Antonio and his circle imply this men's world. Colin Falconer's designs offer for us here a Victorian/ Edwardian Englishman's club setting in which men of commerce and industry can take off their jackets and relax in stylish waistcoats. It is a safe retreat in which Antonio's ambiguous sexuality hangs in the air, unspoken but never absent.
Portia and Nerissa (Hermione Gulliford and Eliza Lumley) are at their best, too, dressed as lawyers for the court scene. Neat pony tails may sit slightly oddly in the period setting but the manly poses adopted by these 'pseudo men' (Lumley with legs apart, hands in trouser pockets) carries with it an air of high-spirited lark lending the scene a frisson of comedy. The journey from their appearance to the total humiliation of Shylock is swift and shocking.
Within the intimate Swan setting the play shows its uncomfortable anti-Semitic centre. Loveday and her boys face this head on, sticking the knife in again and again and then twisting it. The greater Shylock's humiliation, the greater our discomfort – the anti-Semitism becomes our problem too. The whole is all the more effective since Ian Bartholomew's Shylock is, until provoked, a self-contained character. This is a performance internalised and not given to great histrionics.
Ironically the maleness that drives the production is both its strength and its weakness. Loveday confuses maleness with boisterousness and shouting, so that the very clarity the early scenes need is lost, focus of character is missing, relationships are not forged - and no amount of kissing makes up for this. Oddly, you are left wondering what all this kissing is about.
Much to be admired is Darren Tunstall's highly energetic Launcelot Gobbo: his 'conscience' triple act (he being the only performer, of course) is great fun.
Cast:
Antonio: Ian Gelder
Salerio: Jim Creighton
Solanio: Robert Mountford
Bassanio: Paul Hickey
Lorenzo: Ben Turner
Gratiano: Dickon Tyrrell
Servant: Carl Ferguson
Shylock: Ian Bartholomew
Launcelot Gobbo: Darren Tunstall
Old Gobbo: David Peart
Jessica: Isabel Pollen
Tubal: David Peart
Duke of Venice: Michael Gardiner
Portia: Hermione Gulliford
Nerissa: Eliza Lumley
Balthazar: Carl Ferguson
Servant: Gemma Larke
Prince of Morocco: Chris Jarman
Prince of Arragon: Michael Gardiner
Director: Loveday Ingram
Design: Colin Falconer
Lighting: Hartley T A Kemp
Music: Paul Englishby
Sound: John Leonard and John Owens for Aura
2001-12-06 23:38:29