The scene at the the Thornden Park Amphitheater for Syracuse Shakespeare-In-The Park always makes me happy. The audience, setting up their lawn chairs, shushing kids, and rewarding a few very patient dogs, knows the drill. They spread out their picnics onto their laps, chat with friends, and settle in for an evening of amusement from the Bard performed by community members. This is the happy essence of theater.
However, with “The Merchant of Venice,” what we settle in for is often upsetting. Reflecting the antisemitism of Elizabethan England, this story of revenge and last minute rescue by a brilliant woman put “a pound of flesh” into the language and told us that, “The quality of mercy is not strained.” It’s classified a comedy, but even the laughs in “Merchant” have an uncomfortable edge.
The merchant of the title is Antonio, who to bankroll friend Bassanio’s courtship of wealthy Portia, guarantees a loan from the Jewish moneylender Shylock. The usurer demand as a bond upon default a pound of flesh from Antonio, who has tormented him with racism in the past. When it appears that Antonio’s merchant ships have sunk and he can’t pay, Shylock demands the flesh to be cut from around his heart.
For this production, director Dan Stevens has chosen an all female cast, reversing the all male Elizabethan tradition. Decked out in stunning costumes designed by Nina Williams, the fifteen person company sets out the tale with gusto.
There’s some lovely work from Maria Coleman as Portia and Heidi Walko as her handmaiden Nerissa, especially in the courtship scene, as suitors are faced with a choice which will determine who gets the heiress’s hand. In the climactic courtroom scene, they may struggle to make us believe that they are the men they pose as, but such is the case with most of Shakespeare’s female disguise roles.
Rose Hays is suitably ardent as Bassanio, and Lynn King has real swagger as his friend, Gratiano. Jacqueline DeJohn is a solid Antonio, who is a passive figure for most of the play. Contemporary audiences might like to see some of the venom in him that fuels Shylock’s vengefulness, but this is the more classical interpretation of him as the loyalest of friends, a victim of vengeance.
Perhaps the single most controversial character in all of Shakespeare’s plays is Shylock. Is he a stock villain, an antisemitic stereotype, or is he a victim? He lays out the indignations he has suffered at the hands of the Christian Venetians, asking in an iconic speech, “Hath not a Jew eyes …If you prick us, do we not bleed?” For Syracuse Shakespeare-In-The Park, Nora O’Dea’s Shylock is measured rather than explosive. She speaks the lines with clarity and a matter of fact demeanor.
This Shakespeare-In-The Park production doesn’t set out to give us a complex reading of the play. When lovingly performed by a company of community players with a wide range of skills, the bare bones of a play are exposed. With “The Merchant of Venice,” those bare bones laid out send a chill up our collective spines.
The Details
What: “The Merchant of Venice” by William Shakespeare, presented by the Syracuse Shakespeare-In-The-Park.
Where: Thornden Park Amphitheatre, Beech Street, Syracuse.
When seen: August 2.
Attendance: About 100.
Length of performance: Two hours with intermission.
Family guide: High school. The play is a good jumping off point for discussion of antisemitism and bigotry in general.
Runs through: June 11. Friday and Saturday performances are at 5:30, Sundays at 2:00.
Information: Syracuse Shakespeare-In-The-Park Festival, (315) 395-0691, ssitp.org.
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