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In The Merchant of Venice, Niamh Cusack's macho act lacks subtlety when she cross-dresses as the lawyer, saving Antonio from Shylock's knife. In Gale Edward's production, Cusack's incognito Portia shakes hands with ridiculous vigour. The location, meanwhile, seems puzzlingly vague: a modern plate-glass city where designer decking spans a glimmering pool. Though the action might make you think of Israel's current schisms or trials in the Hague concerning racial atrocities, it's easier to relate Alison Chitty's set to the characters' commercial avarice than Shakespeare's specifically Jewish-Christian antipathies. The background music (with Mia Soteriou supplying vocals) is intrusively sentimenal too.
Neverheless, Edwards' production takes some striking risks, pushing boldly(or recklessly?) at the boundaries between comedy and racist stereotyping in the casket scenes. Desmond Barrit is both harsh and poignant as Shylock, combining haggard dignity and a vengeful bitterness that is palpably brought to a head by vicious anti-Semitism. We see him drenched and spat upon in the street, and brought to his knees by ultimately merciless Christian laws.
© Independent News & Media (UK) Ltd.
