Rating: ***
Antonio (Philip Mansfield) is a well known and much loved Christian merchant known for his charity and lending money at zero interest. Bassanio (James McGregor) wishes to woo rich and beautiful heiress Portia (Rebecca Moore), but is lacking in funds. He calls upon Antonio to lend him some money, but Antonio’s investments are aboard merchant ships, and has nothing to lend him. He tells Bassanio to find a loan and hold him as the guarantor. But Bassanio finds Shylock (Saul Reichlin), a Jewish lender who deeply resents Antonio, not just for undercutting his business, but because of Antonio’s fervent anti-Semitism. Seeing the opportunity to wreak revenge he holds Antonio to a pound of flesh if he is unable to repay the debt. When Antonio’s ships go missing at sea, Shylock’s wrath draws closer as his mercy grows weaker.
William Shakespeare’s supposed comedy is notoriously difficult to get into, let alone perform. Brimming with complex moralities and severe themes, it’s more a wittily constructed essay on racism and revenge than a piece of comic muse. Here Director David Weinberg brings a modern dress production to the remains of The Rose Theatre in an attempt to transport Elizabethan Venice to our present era of austerity. However, it doesn’t quite manage to work. But this is not because the modern setting feels forced or out of place, it’s because the text is somewhat timeless. Apart from an inspired use of a tablet computer at one point, the well tailored city suits by Alessia Alba, and a slightly misjudged Ali G impression, you hardly notice the epoch shift.
The other complaint is that Weinberg tends to overplay the more obvious comic elements. This ends up feeling a little over the top and jars against the play’s more serious side. But this is more a problem with Shakespeare’s writing than a directional misadventure, and despite this they still manage to raise titters where directed, therefore not failing completely. But where the comedy is a little weak, Weinberg excels in teasing tension and Shakespeare’s trademark witticisms brilliantly through giving the text time and space to flourish in the performances of a talented cast.
Indeed, the performances are great. Mansfield’s Antonio falls from spiteful smug to broken and remorseful acceptance of his grisly fate with an ethereal grace in both speech and body. Whilst McGregor trips lightly through his lines, bringing a warm and clear voice to the often glistening wit within the prose.
Reichlin, on the other hand, feels as conflicted as the play itself. At times he’s a little over animated, more like an embittered pierrot than a down-trodden Jew. However, he has wonderful fortes by means of an intimidatingly passionate rendition of the famous ‘hath a Jew not eyes’ speech, and a threatening and almost inhuman reticent zeal as Shylock’s bond inches towards closure. It’s these moments that you realise just why he’s been cast, despite a little too much flailing at times.
Overall, this is a competent execution of an uneasy play, and worthy of supporting The Rose Theatre Bankside’s cause.
The Merchant of Venice plays at The Rose Theatre Bankside, London, SE1 9AS until 26 February 2012. Tickets are £12 (concessions available). To book call 020 7261 9565 or visit www.rosetheatre.org.uk.
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