Shylock as Jew and as Muslim

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

It’s an ambitious project, to say the least. According to promotional materials, Two Merchants, which is now being presented by Theatre at UBC, “is part of a study designed to implement an innovative, entertainment-based event aimed at fostering greater understanding of ethno-religious tensions in Canada; increase understanding of Jews and Muslims, and antisemitism and Islamophobia in Vancouver; and inspire discussion and debate on issues of antisemitism, Islamophobia and the Arab-Israeli conflict in the spirit of developing our ‘moral imagination.’”

The woman behind the project is Dana Lori Chalmers. The play is a shortened adaptation of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, and comprises two 50-minute acts: one version featuring the character of Shylock as a Jew in a predominantly Islamic Arab culture; the other presenting Shylock as an Arab Muslim in a predominantly Jewish culture. It forms part of Chalmers’ doctoral dissertation.

“My dissertation is really a multi-part study,” she explained to the Independent. “Part of the research is to actually design a production of this nature – dealing with themes and issues that are directly relevant to an ideological conflict.... The second part is to understand how audiences respond to the play.... In addition, the dissertation will include a detailed analysis of the process of creating the play ... every major choice made in the production level of the show will need to be academically justified within the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the cultures I’m attempting to represent, and issues relating to ideological conflict and conflict resolution.”

Audience members can participate in the research, if they wish: by sitting in clearly marked areas where video and one or two observers “will be recording the ‘feeling’ of the audience, noting when people seem restless, focused, laughing, crying, etc.,” focusing on the general mood, rather than any one reaction; completing a short questionnaire (anonymously) after the show; volunteering for a one-on-one interview or a group discussion; or staying in the theatre after the show for a drink in the “pub,” where, a few tables will have voice recorders set up to record any conversations people would like to have recorded about their impressions of the play. “Even if you don’t want to have your discussions recorded,” assured Chalmers, “you can still have a drink and relax for a little while before heading home.”

Though Two Merchants is Chalmers’ directing debut, she has more than 20 years of theatre experience, including as assistant director, theatre manager, actor and designer. Her bachelor’s in fine arts (theatre) is from the University of British Columbia and her master’s in interdisciplinary studies is from Concordia University in Montreal. Currently in the fourth year of her PhD in interdisciplinary studies at UBC, she continues to study a number of disciplines, including political science, conflict resolution and theatre, sociology, Near Eastern studies, history and applied ethics. Academically, she has won many scholarships, fellowships and awards, participated as a presenter in various international conferences and been a guest lecturer. Her most recent publication – based on a chapter of her MA thesis – is “The Villain in Nazi Theatre and Paratheatre and Its Influence on the Holocaust,” in Villains and Villainy (Rodopi, 2011).

Two Merchants also had its genesis in Chalmers’ MA program.

“It was a bit of a slow evolution that, in many ways, can be traced through the last 10 years,” she said. “The beginning of the idea, however, came about during my MA. I was studying the Nazi use of theatre and paratheatre during the Holocaust and my supervisor was trying to direct my focus onto genocide in general rather than the Holocaust on its own. I started to become interested in genocide prevention (rather than intervention), which ultimately led me into ideological conflicts.

“My supervisor asked me how I could possibly use something like theatre as an intervention in an ideological conflict. At the time, I didn’t have an answer, but decided I would like to use that question as the basis for my PhD. It was only two years into my PhD, during a car ride with my father from Toronto to Kingston, when, to pass the time, we decided to actually try to design a practical intervention into an ideological conflict. Over the course of those three hours, we essentially designed what I have now – two years later – tried to create.”

About the play’s subject matter, she explained, “We focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict for several reasons; the first being that it is one that is current and ongoing; the second was that it is an international conflict and one which I feel can be talked about in this way without introducing the problem of an ‘outsider’ getting involved in a ‘local’ conflict; and, finally, it was something I could personally connect with.

“Writing and researching the play was a lot more complicated. I knew I wanted to start with Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. I did not want to write my own play ... and I didn’t want to use something modern that could be accused of having been written with a specific bias on this conflict. I also liked the idea of using a play with a reputation for being antisemitic and a history of debate around whether or not it actually is antisemitic. From there, I checked with an expert on Shakespeare – Neil Freeman – to be sure I could actually manipulate the text the way I hoped to.

“The next steps were a combination of becoming very familiar with the details of the play and then trying to understand how these issues play out in a Jewish-dominated culture or a Muslim-dominated culture with Israel and Palestine (the West Bank, primarily) as the defaults. I spent about a year and a half trying to learn as much as I could about the Arab-Israeli conflict, about Jewish and Muslim traditions and beliefs, about the range of beliefs and practices within those groups and about the ways diaspora groups relate to these issues. I focused my studies on the issues that related directly to the play or to the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

Her research included many interviews with relevant experts, as well as with family friends and others. She said, “Every single person I spoke with, including Israelis, Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, rabbis, academics, etc., was exceptionally supportive of the idea and the work I hoped to do.”

One of those supporters is community member Dr. Richard Menkis, associate professor of modern Jewish history in the department of classical, Near Eastern and religious studies and the department of history. He is on the academic team for the production.

“This is an interdisciplinary project, and I am fortunate to be a member of a supervisory group with very talented colleagues,” he told the Independent. “The group includes a professor in the theatre department (Stephen Heatley) who has a sophisticated understanding of how theatre has been used in the past (e.g. for social protest) but who also knows how to make sure that Two Merchants will be good theatre. Two of the group (Susan Cox and Shafik Dharamsi) have an excellent command of the ethical issues involved, and of the complex methods that will be used to evaluate audience reaction. Susan Cox has effectively used drama in medical settings, incorporating the best tools for measuring effectiveness. Dr. Dharamsi has experience implementing international development programs within predominantly Muslim cultures, including in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. I am interested in the culture and politics of diasporic groups, especially in Canada, and have some knowledge of the history of the Arab-Israel conflict, so I hope to contribute that way.”

When asked why members of the Jewish community should see the play, Menkis said, “The Arab-Israel conflict is seemingly intractable. The frightful ongoing consequences of that tension in the region are visible almost daily in the news. The tensions are also played out, however, wherever there are supporters of Israel and supporters of the rights of Palestinians. The contemporary identity of many Jews in the Diaspora is bound up with the security and the culture of Israel. Palestinians who have built lives for themselves elsewhere still express a yearning for a Palestinian state and an end to the dispossessed existence of fellow Palestinians. There is a tendency on both sides to ignore or belittle the concerns of the other, which only deepens the tensions.

“Theatre offers a chance to experience an alternate reality; in this case, the audience is invited to leave behind the almost ritualized denunciations of the other and try to understand the plight of the other. Shakespeare’s Shylock is already a complex character; in this production, the permutations will truly jostle one’s thinking about being a member of a minority and about being in the majority. It will be, I think, a very rewarding experience.”

Chalmers further explained, “We’ve devoted a lot of time to the attempt to fairly consider multiple perspectives – not only in terms of ‘Israel/Palestine’ but also in the multiple views that exist within each of those groups. (I say ‘We’ve tried,’ because the complexities and nuances present in this conflict are such that almost anything could be read as ‘offensive’ to someone.) No play can be completely representative, but I’ve tried to show a range of possibilities.

“As in reality, the play is comprised of characters who are all trying to do what they believe to be the right thing. The methods they use range from moments of kindness and generosity to physical violence in the defence of one’s beliefs. There are characters who are strong, and others who are fearful, outgoing and shy, worldly and naïve. Much of the show is about nuance, rather than opposites or radical changes, and, if someone finds the first act biased, they should find that bias reversed in the second act. (The order of the acts alternates every evening, so, over the course of two nights – four acts – the entire show should completely balance out.)”

Trying to achieve balance is something with which Chalmers is very familiar and far beyond the theatre stage. She said she grew up in a household with a mother who was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home and a father who was raised in a fairly religious Catholic home.

“Both of them connect closely with their respective faiths and I was fortunate that they never had any difficulties respecting and supporting each other’s beliefs,” she said. “The result was that we were raised with both religions and both sets of traditions. (It made Passover and Easter particularly interesting – there are a lot of religious services when you combine the Jewish and Catholic ones!)

“My parents told my sisters and I that, when we ‘grew up,’ we could choose which faith to follow. In my case, I have chosen to keep both close to my heart and identity, but I wouldn’t say that I practise either religion in any organized sense. In many ways, I think I got the best of multiple worlds: I got to learn about Judaism and Christianity and incorporate traditions from both into my life, but, at the same time, I was able to live a somewhat secular life that could still contain a rich spiritual and religious connection.

“With regards to organizational involvement,” she said, “as a child, I attended both shul and church every week, but this waned when we moved to Canada from South Africa. When we moved to Canada, we ended up living in a predominantly Christian area and, while I attended a Catholic school, I never had any desire to participate in Catholic organizations (in fact, I actively avoided it out of a desire to avoid ‘short-changing’ my Jewish side). My personality is one that strives for ‘fairness’ whenever I possibly can, the result being that, as a child, if I could not participate in both religions, I preferred to participate in neither. Emphasizing one over the other felt – rightly or wrongly – like giving preference to one of my parents.

“Later in my life, I tried on one occasion to change this behavior – I tried to go on a Birthright trip to Israel. I was studying the Holocaust at the time and wanted to learn more about Israel and Judaism. I also wanted to take some time after the completion of the Birthright trip to do some research at Yad Vashem and other archives in Israel. In the end, I was told that unless I chose to be completely Jewish – essentially give up my Catholic ‘heritage’ – I would not be allowed to go on a Birthright trip. Since I viewed that as having to choose between my parents (an illogical feeling, but one I’ve accepted), I chose to be true to my mixed background and sacrifice my chances of going on the trip.”

Chalmers expects to graduate in 2013, after which, she said, she would like to continue the kind of work she has been doing on Two Merchants, using such productions “to invite dialogue and discussion relating to significant issues and conflict.” Since she also enjoys teaching, she added, “Ideally, I will combine these two passions to develop a career in which the research I do in an academic context can be applied outside of the limits of an academic environment.”

One part of that research is, as mentioned above, figuring out how to use entertainment to counter ideologies that feed entrenched conflicts. About this, Chalmers explained, “Entertainment – by which I mean stories that are absorbing and engaging – can inspire what some conflict-resolution specialists call the ‘moral imagination.’ The ‘moral imagination’ is the ability to imagine ourselves in a world which includes and understands our enemies – perhaps even a world in which they are not enemies. Through a story – a play, for example – we are invited to imagine ourselves in a very different world and to identify with characters that are often very different from ourselves. Through a play like Two Merchants, we are even invited to feel empathy towards an individual or a group that may usually be someone we would dislike, avoid or even fear.

“I think this process of imagining ourselves in the world of the other is what can inspire dialogue – and dialogue is a good step towards peace. Moreover, beginning the process of recognizing common ground, of understanding another’s perspective and of imagining ourselves in the world of the other are all key elements in the process leading to peace.

“I am not naïve enough to think a single show (or really any single intervention) can create peace, but I think peace will need to come through a range of methods,” she continued. “Obviously, negotiation and discussion on the parts of leaders and politicians is essential, but so is the ideological shift. For some, the best approach will be programs that encourage individuals from opposing sides to work together. For others, it may be integrating schools or health facilities. Peace needs to come from every part of society and needs to be promoted in as many ways as possible in order to reach the most number of people.

“Entertainment is an under-used medium for this purpose. I think it is frequently used to convey a single perspective – and I’ll readily admit that it is both tempting and a lot easier to use it that way – but to try to convey multiple perspectives with equal weight is both unusual and – as I’m discovering – quite challenging. The multiple perspectives, however, are the ones that will inspire dialogue, debate and understanding. They can encourage people to question information they receive from other sources – some of which might be unreliable and others may simply be biased – and can inspire the kind of imagined empathy that may, even for only a few, lead to actual empathy.”

Chalmers admitted that much of the research around the use of entertainment to counter conflict ideologies is theoretical. However, her PhD study is an attempt to put theory into practice and “evaluate whether or not it accomplished what it was intended to accomplish.”

She explained, “Assuming the data reveals that the show did exactly what the theory suggests it should do (which seems a little too ambitious, even for me), the next step will be developing a way to ascertain whether the dialogue actually results in changed behavior, and to what extent.

“Another ‘next step’ could also be in expanding the research into different entertainment mediums. I’ve used theatre because it is the medium with which I am the most familiar, however, it may be that video games are more effective, or film or television. I’d actually love to collaborate on designing a video game with the same intention to inspire the moral imagination in players (I’ll have to learn a little more about video games first). In other words, this is only the first step in what I’m hoping will be a lifetime of work leading me in a range of directions. In imagistic terms, this production is a first step, not along a single path, but into the middle of a forest of possibilities through which an almost infinite number of paths could be created.”

Two Merchants runs until Nov. 19 at the Chan Centre’s Telus Studio Theatre. For tickets ($5-$22), call 604-822-2678 or visit theatre.ubc.ca.

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