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July 25, 2003
Pros and cons of censorship
Excellent acting and controversial topic make Shylock worth seeing.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Is William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice "hate
literature masquerading as theatre"? Is it "a cruel attack
against the Jewish people of this community and an insult to anyone
who prides themselves on being fair-minded and tolerant"? These
are just a couple of the questions posed by the fictional Prof.
Marcia T. Berman in Shylock, now playing at Bard on Beach.
Considered a comedy, The Merchant of Venice features the
character of the moneylender Shylock, often referred to in the play
simply as "the Jew." When a debt owed to him by the merchant
Antonio is not repaid, Shylock demands the forfeit of "a pound"
of Antonio's flesh. Despite pleas for mercy, Shylock does not relent.
He does, however, get outwitted by the play's main characters and,
in the end, he doesn't get his money or his pound of flesh and he
is forced to convert to Christianity.
Playwright Mark Leiren-Young's Shylock openly takes on the
debate about censorship and the appropriateness of staging such
controversial plays as The Merchant of Venice, which –
not coincidentally – is also at Bard on the Beach this summer.
The two productions are being promoted as complements to each other
and, indeed, a knowledge of Shakespeare's play will help audiences
to follow Leiren-Young's one-man, one-act drama.
David Berner reprises the title role in Shylock. He plays
Jon Davies, a Jewish actor in the role of Shylock in a production
of Merchant that has just been cancelled because of public
uproar over the play's anti-Semitic content. When Shylock
begins, Davies has just finished the last performance of Merchant
and he is still wearing his costume and make-up. As he discusses
the issues surrounding censorship, the power of words, the concept
of art, the perceived need to spoonfeed morals to audiences, and
other weighty ideas, Davies removes his costume, his prosthetic
nose and it is the actor with whom we are left; mirroring the de-layering
of the topic to its core.
He shares an encounter with Prof. Berman, who, after decrying Merchant
and calling Davies a traitor to his race, spits on him in disgust.
"I couldn't believe it," says Davies. "How do you
respond to that? What do you say?"
While Davies may have been speechless in that encounter, he has
no trouble discussing his views on free speech and censorship with
the audience.
He points out the irony that the media and other "liberal"
institutions and people are often silent when a play like Merchant
is cancelled, because they are afraid of being labelled anti-Semitic
or racist if they support the play's staging.
He recounts a statement made by Anthony Burgess (author of A
Clockwork Orange) that the fact that something is art is reason
enough to share it with the public. Davies fleshes out the argument
that the merits of art or literature outweigh the potential danger
of people acting in an offensive way as a result of seeing a play
or movie or reading a book.
He also touches upon the importance of the historical context of
a play such as Merchant - written at a time when Jews were
exiled from England – and Mark Twain's The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn, that uses "the 'N' word," but which
is, says Davies, ultimately about tolerance, a point he feels is
lost on those who wish to ban it.
Overall, Berner's performance is excellent but, near the end of
the play, there is a small detour into melodrama, when Davies is
almost brought to tears by a memory of his zayde. The tears seem
out of place in a character who, to that point, had been full of
confidence, anger and strength. Luckily, the character quickly returns
to the combination of intelligent ranting and charm that makes the
persona of Davies so compelling.
There are many controversial issues brought up in Shylock.
Given the need to contain the play to a reasonable length and to
make it entertaining, and not simply a diatribe, it doesn't delve
too deeply into any of them. But the point of the play is that people
should be able to think about and decide for themselves what is
right or wrong, and Shylock will certainly get the thought process
started.
If something is considered art and yet presents hurtful and inciteful
images or views, should it be staged, published or displayed publicly?
Are people smart or knowledgable enough to appreciate the historical
background of a performance, artwork or book? If a book is about
tolerance does that make its racist language less offensive? What
does banning something achieve? The list goes on.
Shylock premièred at Bard on the Beach in 1996, with
Berner as Davies. Since then, the play has received more than a
dozen productions throughout North America and is currently being
translated into Danish for a production in Denmark. Bard artistic
director Christopher Gaze directs this summer's staging of the play;
costumes are by Mara Gottler and Rebecca Craster is stage manager.
Performances of Shylock in the Bard's Mainstage tent take
place July 28, Aug. 4 and 11 at 8 p.m.; Aug. 23 at 1 p.m.; Sept.
12 at 10 p.m.; and Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $14 to $18 and
are available through the Bard box office, either on-site, by calling
604-739-0559 or online at www.bardonthebeach.org.
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