In our 101 Reasons to Love the Cotswolds collection, The Merchant of Venice, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon stands out as a reminder that the area is about much more than pretty views.
Read on for the details, from Theatre Reviews, The Merchant of Venice and Royal Shakespeare Theatre to the reasons this place or story continues to add to the charm and character of the Cotswolds.
24/05/2015
Rating: **** By Colin Davison @IamColinDavison
Interpretations of Shakespeare come and go, but revelations are rarer.
Interpretations of Shakespeare come and go, but revelations are rarer.
Not everyone may like it, but many, myself included, may never see this play in the same way again thanks to Polly Findlay’s persuasive new interpretation.
It is the centrepiece, with The Jew of Malta and Volpone, of an RSC season about communities, greed and outsiders.
The portrayal of Shylock by Palestinian Israeli actor Makram J. Khoury is remarkable enough, but it is in the character of the Merchant Antonio, that director, and actor Jamie Ballard, have found new meaning in the play.
For Antonio is gay.
That may prompt thoughts of a Mel Brookes California sixties send-up, but from the shocking moment that Antonio kisses Jacob Fortune-Lloyd’s Bassanio full on the lips, much falls into place.
Why else is Antonio unspeakably sad, but at his adored friend’s venal pursuit of Portia for her money? Why else would he open “my purse, my person” to the wastrel?
Ballard is an angst-ridden, tortured and repressed soul, crying out only when faced with the actual torture of Shylock’s knife.
Portia – that empty-head, miraculously turned Perry Mason – has by now learnt the truth of her husband and Antonio’s personal and financial relations.
So while sparing him the knife, actress Patsy Ferran’s eyes shoot daggers at his heart.
The contemporary setting makes no reference to Venice. Shylock’s home is an anonymous, multi-storey edifice of reflective glass in the style of a bankers’ tower.
More enigmatically, cherubic choristers appear from time to time above, and a giant pendulum that might have been borrowed from Wagner’s Ring, swings slowly below.
Citizens parade their venality like pumped-up city traders. Bassanio shares a bag of cocaine, and although James Corrigan’s Lorenzo gives Scarlett Brookes’ Jessica a modest kiss in their elopement, it’s her ducats that he hugs.
Our sympathy is therefore entirely with Shylock, spat in the face not once but three times, and played by Khoury with such dignity that his merciless cry for vengeance might be understood if not forgiven.
Tim Samuels is an ideal, insolent, grease-painted Launcelot Gobbo, Ken Nwosu an ebullient, baggy Gratiano and Brian Protheroe does a memorable walk-on cameo as a cheesy, arrogant Aragon.
The play continues until September 2 and can be seen live in cinemas on Wednesday, July 22.
Colin Davison
It is the centrepiece, with The Jew of Malta and Volpone, of an RSC season about communities, greed and outsiders.
The portrayal of Shylock by Palestinian Israeli actor Makram J. Khoury is remarkable enough, but it is in the character of the Merchant Antonio, that director, and actor Jamie Ballard, have found new meaning in the play.
For Antonio is gay.
That may prompt thoughts of a Mel Brookes California sixties send-up, but from the shocking moment that Antonio kisses Jacob Fortune-Lloyd’s Bassanio full on the lips, much falls into place.
Why else is Antonio unspeakably sad, but at his adored friend’s venal pursuit of Portia for her money? Why else would he open “my purse, my person” to the wastrel?
Ballard is an angst-ridden, tortured and repressed soul, crying out only when faced with the actual torture of Shylock’s knife.
Portia – that empty-head, miraculously turned Perry Mason – has by now learnt the truth of her husband and Antonio’s personal and financial relations.
So while sparing him the knife, actress Patsy Ferran’s eyes shoot daggers at his heart.
The contemporary setting makes no reference to Venice. Shylock’s home is an anonymous, multi-storey edifice of reflective glass in the style of a bankers’ tower.
More enigmatically, cherubic choristers appear from time to time above, and a giant pendulum that might have been borrowed from Wagner’s Ring, swings slowly below.
Citizens parade their venality like pumped-up city traders. Bassanio shares a bag of cocaine, and although James Corrigan’s Lorenzo gives Scarlett Brookes’ Jessica a modest kiss in their elopement, it’s her ducats that he hugs.
Our sympathy is therefore entirely with Shylock, spat in the face not once but three times, and played by Khoury with such dignity that his merciless cry for vengeance might be understood if not forgiven.
Tim Samuels is an ideal, insolent, grease-painted Launcelot Gobbo, Ken Nwosu an ebullient, baggy Gratiano and Brian Protheroe does a memorable walk-on cameo as a cheesy, arrogant Aragon.
The play continues until September 2 and can be seen live in cinemas on Wednesday, July 22.
Colin Davison
