The Merchant of Venice could be seen as a brave choice by Shakespeare Live as they stage the play in their 34th year.
The play – written by William Shakespeare at some point between 1596 and 1598 - is potentially troubling to modern audiences because of its central themes about love, justice and money and how they affect characters and influence the plot.
Four hundred years on, critics continue to argue over the play's stance on the Jews and Judaism, given the strong anti-Jewish treatment of the central character Shylock.
Shakespeare Live have chosen to follow the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Company’s lead by casting a women in the role of the Jewish moneylender.
The plot is simple: Antonio, an antisemitic merchant, takes a loan from the Jew Shylock to help his friend Bassanio to court the heiress Portia.
Antonio can't repay the loan, and without mercy, Shylock literally demands a pound of his flesh. Portia, now the wife of Antonio's friend, disguises herself as a lawyer and saves Antonio.
The play is commonly classed as a comedy and, while Shakespeare Live is never afraid to innovate, director Andy Cork has decided to stage Venice and the play's characters in modern costumes and a contemporary setting.
The effect is to bring a distinctive vision and a host of creative touches to his interpretation of the play that brings to life the moral arguments.
To overcome the stereotypical behaviours, Liz Hume plays Shylock as a female and this gives the players the opportunity to examine the character from a different perspective.
By changing the character’s gender, the audience views Shylock more sympathetically, even though she is still demanding her ‘pound of flesh’ after Antonio defaults as guarantor of a loan from Shylock of 3,000 ducats to Bassanio.
There’s some lovely and very sensitive performances from the central characters, particularly Liz Hume as Shylock and Lynne McCaffrey as Antonio.
I also enjoyed the humour and tender love scenes between Stephanie Richards' Portia and Jeremy Fowlds' Bassanio, and between Lauren Arena-Mcann as her waiting maid Nerissa and Dominic O’Connor as Bassanio’s friend Gratiano.
Elisabeth Calvert as Launcelot, who switches masters from Shylock to become a servant to Bassanio, and the madcap pair Salarino (Antonia White) and Salanio (Phoebe Fung), also brought much humour to the production.
But the show was almost stolen by the excellent performances of Taruna Nalini as the Prince of Morocco and Elias Ramirez Mesa, doubling up as the Prince of Aragon and Tubal.
I should also mention the faultless performances from the supporting cast: Alex Sutton (Lorenzo), Graham Paton (Balthazar/Duke of Venice), Penny Clegg (clerk to Shylock/Leonardo/Gaoler), Liz Holliss (Gobbo/Salerio), and Freya Skinner-Smith (Jessica).
Overall, Shakespeare Live do a superb job of portraying the humanity within the play and the oppressive society in which Jews lived in 16th century England.
The production ably depicts the argument for justice and tolerance for all in the face of enormous prejudice.
The Merchant of Venice is being performed until Saturday, July 8 at Cleeve House, Seend Cleeve, by kind permission of the Cooper family.
Tickets are available from www.shakespearelive.com and cost between £10 and £23. Picnics in the lovely garden are welcome before the show and the seating is both tiered and under cover.
Saturday night is a Gala with extra live entertainment before the show. Parking is easy and there are refreshments available.
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