03 Aug 2024
Deborah Heath encounters OVO’s new interpretation of the Bard’s classic at the Roman Theatre Festival.
This is the first time I have seen ‘The Merchant of Venice’ live, probably because as director Kelly Ann Stewart attests, it is “labelled as a problem play”.
The broad set up is as follows – a group of male merchants, headed by Antonio, borrow money from Shylock, a Jewish money lender. They need Shylock but are rather
disrespectful towards him which might be why Shylock lends the money on the condition that if Antonio forfeits the payment, he must give up a “pound of flesh.”
There is much more to the play than this which I will not give away, except to say that it includes some fantastic powerful female characters battling against male tyranny.
However, this opening indicates the problem faced by any company putting on this play – the characters aren’t very nice. They are funny at times sure, especially Gratiano (Hassan Maarfi), but they are also, let’s be honest, a bunch of jerks.
For while I was disgusted at the male protagonists’ xenophobia, I can’t condone Shylock’s brutal bargain.
It is a problematic play but of course real life is full of people with character contradictions – charming on the outside but awful deep down and it was this challenge that inspired OVO to take the play on.
Kelly Ann Stewart continues: “It is that charm that invites you as the audience to become complicit in their worst action – for, is that not how prejudice is given room to not only grow but thrive and be excused?”
I applaud OVO for their bravery at staging ‘The Merchant of Venice’ – let‘s see how it worked out!
First and foremost, it was a stroke of genius presenting a female Shylock as was casting the fabulous Jilly Bond in the role; she nailed the role of Scrooge in the 2022
production of ‘A Christmas Carol’. Making Shylock female gave another layer to the persecution of this Jewish character.
Jilly Bond mastered the role from the hard- nosed business brain to the lighter comedic moments. She presents a subtlety in her performance which is a joy to watch.
Setting the play in 2006 Canary Wharf on the brink of the financial crisis was another great idea – it provided a familiar and relatable framework for the action to take place.
I wondered if setting it in the 1980s yuppie Canary Wharf might have been more stylistically appealing and fun but I do understand why 2006 was chosen.
Costumes had been well researched by Michelle Jury; the power suits were spot on and some of the awful ladies’ shoes were similar to those I had in my own wardrobe at the time.
Chris Janes’ simple but well- lit set complemented the action well and I loved the three filing cabinets in place of Portia’s caskets. Incidental music was well chosen with ‘Laura’”’ from the Scissor Sisters being the punchy intro number that we needed to establish the male characters.
These traders are bold, confident and funny but deep down self-centred and prejudiced. In their well-styled city slicker suits, Antonio (Chris Dingli) and Bassanio (Hamish Somers) painted the perfect picture of ambitious merchants succeeding in a male-driven world.
Both were very strong and charismatic actors throughout showing the full dimensions of their characters.
Hassan Maarfi as Gratiano provided the comic relief with a great physical command of the stage. Jonathan Tynan-Moss played Lorenzo as a thoroughly believable romantic with the edge of hating Shylock, his girlfriend’s mother. This role is quite hard to get right but he did it perfectly.
Leading the women was Taya Ming who gave Portia the sassiness, humour and command that she needed. Grace Wallis as sensitive Jessica was a joy to watch throughout and provided a change of energy that was needed. Finally, Ella Blackburn as Nerissa was the perfect foil for Portia which is not to understate her talent; she portrayed her intelligence, loyalty and quick-thinking beautifully.
This show has a really tight cast and has clearly been directed with a real love for the original text which I’m afraid I do not share. However, this did not get in the way of how I admired the production itself – it hammered home some problematic social issues, was extremely well performed and was re-set in the modern era successfully.
The pound of flesh scene was handled so well that there was complete terrified silence in the audience. The character realisation was superb, and this had clearly been well explored in rehearsal.
Once again, a thoughtful OVO re-working of a classic tale under a very strong director.
Photos: Elliott Franks.
