Director focuses on empathy

TOVA G. KORNFELD

Summer has finally arrived in Vancouver and with it comes the magic of Bard on the Beach under the red and white tents at Vanier Park. Along with As You Like It, Henry VI and Richard III, for the third time in its 22-year history, Bard is tackling the controversial Merchant of Venice and, for the first time, with a Jewish director, Rachel Ditor, and a Jewish Shylock, Richard Newman. Ironically, this production even has a Jew (Ryan Beil) playing Gratiano, one of the play’s most vociferous antisemites.

The story: young roué Bassanio wishes to “wed wealthily” and woo the beautiful heiress Portia from the island of Belmont. In order to do so, he needs to be bankrolled to the tune of 3,000 ducats. Enter Antonio, a successful Venetian merchant, who would do anything for his friend, Bassanio. While all his assets are tied up in shipping ventures, his bond is valuable and Jewish moneylender Shylock is approached for the loan. Shylock, who has been ridiculed and despised by the good citizens of Venice, including Antonio, sees an opportunity for vengeance and quickly agrees to make the loan in return for Antonio’s bond, which, if forfeit, would give Shylock a “pound of Antonio’s flesh.”

Meanwhile, back in Belmont, Portia puts various suitors to a test for her hand devised by her late father. Three casks, gold, silver and lead, are on display. One of them contains Portia’s image. That cask, if chosen, provides the successful suitor with his future wife. However, if the wrong cask is chosen, the loser is condemned to a life of celibacy. The antics of Bassanio and the princes of Morocco and Aragon vying for the prize – and proving that “all that glitters is not gold” – provide the comedy end of what really must be characterized as a tragedy with a powerful moral lesson. Bassanio wins his lady but learns that Antonio’s ships have all been wrecked at sea and that the merchant cannot pay back the loan. Shylock insists upon his “pound of flesh,” so Bassanio and his entourage (with double the value of the bond in hand) make haste back to Venice to stop the Jewish moneylender from exacting his payment.

This leads to the powerful courtroom scene where Portia, disguised as a young lawyer, makes an emotional plea in her “quality of mercy” speech. However, Shylock insists upon his legal rights and wins his suit to recoup his loan. Just as he is to take his due, Portia points out to him that he is restricted to taking just one pound of flesh and that no Christian blood is to be spilled, or else Shylock will forfeit his life. Caught in a bind, Shylock agrees to walk away and is slowly and systematically stripped of all his possessions and forced to convert to Christianity.

Shakespeare wrote the play in 1595. Ditor chose to set her Merchant in 1870s Italy. “I chose that time period because it was a time when Jews were fairly well integrated into Italian society,” Ditor told the Independent. In personalizing her production, and giving the characters more depth, she said, “I wanted Shylock and Antonio to be in the foreground of the play. This is a story of the losses that unravel their respective lives. Antonio loses his lover and Shylock, a widower, loses his daughter, Jessica, profession and religion. In many ways, despite their differences, they are very similar.”

As for the common wisdom that the play is antisemitic, Ditor thinks otherwise. “Shakespeare was not an antisemite. He did not write plays to tell us what to do. He did not write Othello to promote killing wives. This play is structured to build empathy for someone who, at the end, is stripped of everything. Shylock did not get what he deserved and the audience comes to understand this. I appreciate that some people in the Jewish community might feel uncomfortable in viewing the play, but Merchant will always spark conversation and dialogue, so there is value in that. That dialogue is what I consider to be the ‘epilogue’ of this play. This play is not about celebrating antisemitism,” she continued, “it shows us what a world without empathy would look like – and it is not pretty. Richard [Newman] plays Shylock with such dignity and sensitivity, and Jessica’s story is so human and compelling that people should not be afraid that Jews [are] portrayed as either villains or victims. I personally was very affected by the play, which I had not revisited since high school, and found it cathartic with respect to memories I had of growing up Jewish in a small Ontario town.”

Ditor’s production opens with Antonio’s eerie dream scene that foretells the ultimate tragedy. The audience is taken on a five-act journey of humor, pathos and pain. Shylock’s soliloquy “Hath not a Jew eyes,” emoted from the top of the stage, against the backdrop of the mountains and ocean, is moving.

Running into Newman after the play, he said of playing Shylock, “I have been waiting 40 years to play this role.” Lindsey Angell is a beautiful Portia, Duncan Fraser, a superb Antonio, and Charlie Gallant, a strutting Bassanio. John Murphy as the lisping Prince of Aragon with Kayvon Khoshkam playing his sidekick, Gobbo, and Luc Roderique as the Prince of Morocco provide strong comedic moments. Mara Gottler’s costumes, particularly the women’s gowns, are fabulous. Kippot and payot for the male Jewish characters and haunting klezmer music add to the Jewish flavor of this production.

I have seen all three Bard Merchants. Ditor’s vision has made for an honest presentation of a difficult subject, making hers the “must-see” production of this season’s Bard repertoire.

Bard on the Beach runs until the end of September, with plays on the Main and Studio stages running on alternating days. Tickets are available by calling 604-739-0559 or online at bardonthebeach.org.

Tova G. Kornfeld is a local lawyer and writer.

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