MERCHANT OF VENICE:

June 28^th

     I don’t know where to start with this post… I just have so many thoughts and feelings about this show that it is hard to put them on paper (or rather computer). I have never seen The Merchant of Venice before in any kind of setting. I haven’t even really spent time in the text studying it; so I was excited to see a Shakespeare show that I didn’t really know. After talking in class before we left for London I imagined a production of this show could go different ways in how they portray Shylock and the company. Either he could be ruthless and evil, exactly what Antonio and his crew thinks Shylock is or that he could have a mean streak but yet a quality about him that the audience would cheer for, a normal human being with their ups and downs. In this day and time the first choice would be hard to sell to audiences because of the slander against Shylock as a Jew, but the second “version” could and did prove to be successful.

     Jonathan Pryce was amazing. And yes that does sound cliché and common because that word is used all the time but what made him unique is that you didn’t know it was him on the stage. You know when you see tv or movie stars and people you know on stage and whenever they are speaking and doing a scene you only think about them and you are always aware that they are acting. With Jonathan Pryce you forgot it was Jonathan Pryce. He walked on stage and you were entranced and just sucked into the story. You could see/feel his intense faith and devotion to his people and his ways. And it got to the trial scene and I was rooting for him to take the pound of flesh. I sympathized with him and his daughter when, in my opinion, Shakespeare may not have thought of the audience sympathizing and rooting for Shylock, the outsider.

     Some of my favorite interactions during the show were between Shylock and Jessica. I think it partly had to do with me knowing that she was his daughter in real life but more so the connection and just heartbreak that came with that story. I never realized how demeaning and heartbreaking it was for Shylock and Jessica that she turned her back on him and their faith to be with Lorenzo. It’s noted in the text and all that but to see how it killed Shylock to hear that she ran away and then with the ending that this production added, where Jessica falls to the ground in grief and sobs because her father must denounce his faith and become a Christian. She left for promise of love but in the end she realized she left the only true and pure love that came from her father and faith. She will never be accepted in Lorenzo’s group no matter how hard she tries, as well as the Jewish community because of her change in faith and I think the ending is when she realized the consequences in her choices.
     Overall I loved this show. Standing right at the edge of the stage and seeing the actors up close was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Having actors interact with you and making eye contact is not common in this time and I enjoyed experiencing that. Standing for three hours is hard on the feet but if I could return every year to see a show done in original practice like that I would go in a heartbeat. Nothing beats seeing a show in the Globe.