THE MERCHANT OF VENICE by William Shakespeare (Stratford). At the Festival Theatre. Runs in rep to October 18. $49-$120, stu/srs $20-$55. 1-800-567-1600. See listings. Rating: NNNN
Discussions of The Merchant Of Venice usually turn immediately to Shylock, the Jewish moneylender who’s central to Shakespeare’s tale. He’s not the title character, just one of a number of figures in several intertwined narratives.
Director Antoni Cimolino weaves those tales together in a handsome and generally successful production set in 1930s Italy, with Mussolini’s ominous blackshirts in all the public scenes. Douglas Paraschuk’s sets, Charlotte Dean’s costumes and Robert Thomson’s lighting are a pleasure throughout, but I wish Cimolino had made more effective use of the period too often it’s simply the backdrop.
In this world of elegant suits and coffee houses, the merchant Antonio (Tom McCamus, always a rock-solid performer) is asked by young Bassanio (Tyrell Crews) for a loan so he can woo the well-to-do Portia (Michelle Giroux). Without ready money at hand, Antonio borrows it from Shylock (Scott Wentworth), disdained by the Christians – notably Gratiano, Bassanio’s friend, played by the excellent Jonathan Goad – for his religion as well as his lending practices.
The story takes a while to find its focus because of the number of plot lines that ultimately come together, but the key actors are always compelling.
Cimolino doesn’t downplay the play’s humorous elements, though some are more successful than others. The scenes involving Portia and her various suitors have the feel of a warm drawing-room comedy, and Giroux is excellent at getting laughs. But the more clownish elements, despite the efforts of Victor Ertmanis and Ron Pederson as father and son, have a heavy-handed feel.
Giroux moves believably into a more serious mood when she and Sophia Walker as her companion, Nerissa, don men’s clothes and best Shylock in court, where he claims a pound of Antonio’s flesh for the unpaid debt.
Wentworth is a sympathetic and complex Shylock, at first playing with children on the street and clearly devoted to his daughter, Jessica (Sara Farb), who runs off with Lorenzo and converts to Christianity.
It’s easy to understand his anger in the first act, and only when he steadfastly refuses to show any leniency to Antonio does he lose at least some of our sympathy. But we don’t reject him entirely, since there’s so much anti-Semitism in the powerful court scene and we see how utterly he’s crushed at its end.
