THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, ROYAL LYCEUM, EDINBURGH
★★★
An uncomfortable and confronting watch even after 400 years
Cold, towering and imposing, Riccardo Hernadez’ brutalist set dominates this modern reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice from New York’s Theatre For A New Audience. That is apt for a piece in which the Bard of Avon’s words have seldom been more brutal, hate-filled and visceral, however, like the sign in the foyer of the Royal Lyceum warning of ‘implied’ sexual violence, the full viciousness of the text is never fully realised in this uneven production.
If the set is heavy with symbolism (director Arin Arbus explains, “The wall is concrete, which is what you use to make a wall to divide certain people from other people”), so too her production of Shakespeare’s searing study of prejudice, love, revenge and justice is at times a leaden affair.
The play is the story of Antonio, a merchant who defaults on a loan of 3,000 ducats, taken out on behalf of his close friend, Bassanio, from Jewish money-lender, Shylock. When Antonio’s ships are reported lost at sea, leaving him financially bereft and unable to repay his debt, Shylock demands his bond be honoured – a pound of Antonio’s flesh. It’s a bond that comes with seemingly fatal consequences, yet Shylock, a man broken by years of religious persecution, insists justice be served.
Prejudiced in the extreme, the anti-semitic vitriol directed towards Shylock in this piece that, unbelievably, was written as comedy, is blistering. It’s hard not to feel for the money lender as all of Venice conspires against him. That’s due to a power-house performance from John Douglas Thompson whose Shylock remains stoically civil in the face of the abuse he must endure from even those who need his services, before finally setting free an incandescent rage that blinds him to mercy in his pursuit of justice.
It’s an angry performance, and one of raw emotion that raises the production, which all too often falters when he is not present on stage. Thompson lifts the spirit and zeal of those around him but all too often his exit marks a return to delivery that lacks emotional connection or is devoid of rhythm. Much like the forced comedy inflicted by Balthazar, a character reduced to little more than a mugging factotum, lines are also on occasion clumsily milked for a laugh.
Thankfully, Isabel Arraiza’s, Portia, is made of finer stuff. From boxing class, to shrewd business woman and, finally, wily negotiator, Arrasiza finds the essence of the wealthy heiress, revealing her intellectual mettle when questioning the ‘quality of mercy’ as Shylock and Antonio come face to face in the court of the Duke of Venice, the spell-binding climax of this production.
Alfred Narciso as a thoughtful Antonio and Ariel Shafir as a charismatic Bassanio also impress in their roles, as do Shirine Babb who gives a affable turn as Narriasa, and David Lee Huynh, a charming yet quietly sinister Lorenzo.
‘All that glisters is not gold,’ wrote Shakespeare, and that could well be said of this production as well as of the play itself. Despite it’s romantic subplot featuring Portia and Bassanio, The Merchant of Venice has been described as ‘an ugly play for ugly times’ and when compared with other First Folio works that can not be denied, yet while it specifically speaks of the persecution of the Jewish community in Europe’s first ghetto, equally it has the power to speak to anyone who has ever felt othered in an ever fractious world. As uncomfortable and confronting as it is, The Merchant of Venice rightly retains a vital place on today’s stage… but a comedy it is not.
Runs until 15 February. Tickets here.
