Today, I watched the Julliard School put on "The Merchant of Venice". Nearly 200 people must have been there, at the P.McLelland Theatre to watch the show. It was adapted (at least, the settings were adapted- the dialogues remained the same), to modern times. As they mentioned in the pamphlet, with the financial crisis, a play about a villainous moneylender was particularly apt. But I started off, a little disappointed by the lack of costumes...
My disappointment didn't last long. I was amazed by how well the play fit these modern times. It really brought out the universality of Shakespeare's themes. The other thing that struck me, was how much you can adapt Shakespeare to your own views, how much different it makes, when you see the same lines read with different emotions.
I remember doing the Merchant of Venice in school, a long, long time ago. We didn't perform the play, only read it and tried to understand it. I came out of it feeling utterly unsympathetic for Shylock. Later, I realised, intellectually, that Shylock was as much a victim as Antonio- of the prejudices levelled against him. But it was really brought out to me this time- for example, when Antonio goes to borrow money from Shylock, he is accused of spitting on the money lender. And he says he would do it again. Any wonder, that Shylock is so vengeful?
And there is Shylock's daughter- when I was young, it seemed to me, that she was the victim of a cruel and tight-fisted father- now, I felt sorry for poor Shylock- whose daughter had run away with so much of his fortune. I was startled by how much of a part money played in the play, and wonder if it had seemed natural to the people in Shakespeare's day, to marry for money- that seems to be the major motivation for Bassanio courting Portia and his friend Lorenzo and Jessica. Bassanio himself comes off less than heroically- in spite of being wounded (according to his costume anyway...), his initial confession of insolvency, to Antonio- where he pleads with his friend to loan him more money- to throw after the money he's already lost- reads like some Georgette Heyer about wastrel young lords.
But being without costume, it was incredibly relatable- especially the conversations between Nerissa and Portia, which was like so much girl-talk out of any modern TV show.
The other thing that impressed me was that it was actually funny! Let's face it, when you read Shakepeare, you're concentrating so hard, its hard to actually laugh, even when you know that the lines are supposed to be humorous. When you see it on stage though, the witty dialogue of Portia, her annoying suitors, Bassanio's rattlepate friend, Lancelot the not-so-knightly, all come out brilliantly. Shakespeare mixes slapstick with sharp wit in ways I'd never noticed before, and that makes all the difference between seeing a play and reading it.
The last thing of course, is the brilliant quality of mercy scene, where in the end Shylock is forced to give up his bond on Antonio. I can't help but feel now, though, that the 'merciful' punishment of Antonio was at least as cruel to Shylock as cutting out a pound of flesh- converting, losing much of her money, accepting the man who married his daughter for her wealth, as son.... at least in the end, the daughter wasn't celebrating Shylock's loss with the rest... And Antonio- when all the lover's had gone in, Antonio, for a man who had won, looked incredibly alone.
I've got done with Robin Lane Fox's "Alexander the Great" that I had mentioned in the earlier blog, and have come out even more impressed with "Alex" than before. The more I read of him, the more I feel, that as much as his victories can be said to have depended on luck, a lot of it was luck of his own making. He was an absolutely brilliant commander, it wasn't luck that he knew how to lead men from the front. He wasn't just a military man either, but one with a sharp political mind, one who understood that war was politics by other means. The only thing I object to is what I feel is the exagerration of the influence of the Greeks especially in Asia- thanks to Alexander.
I've also restarted on my list of Agatha Christies - just got through the train ride with "Witness for the Prosecution" and other stories. I love it when Christie goes all self-insertion type like in the Second Cucumber story... wish I had a Miss Marple or two with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment