The Spring Green-based American Players Theatre staged its final showing of “The Merchant of Venice” at the Union Theater this weekend, beguiling the nearly sold-out audience with its rich performance and excellent cast of actors.
“Merchant” straddles two worlds — that of the harsh, mercantile Venice and the wealthy, dream-like Belmont. Using one simple set, the APT cast never falters in leading the audience seamlessly through scenes in alternating worlds.
Interestingly classified as one of Shakespeare’s comedies, “The Merchant of Venice” is often a very dark play, fraught with anti-Semitism and concerned with the struggle between justice and mercy.
In the play, Bassanio asks his friend Antonio, a merchant of Venice, for a loan to help in his pursuit of the beautiful and wealthy Portia of Belmont. Antonio’s assets are pending on ships at sea, so the friends look to the Jewish moneylender Shylock for a loan. Shylock demands that the money be repaid in three months or Antonio must pay with a pound of his own flesh.
APT takes its thematic cues from Antonio and the play’s first line: “In sooth, I know not why I am so sad.” Actor Jim DeVita does indeed portray a somber Antonio, long before the character encounters the major perils of the plot. Why DeVita chose to play Antonio so austere and reserved, even toward his best friend Bassanio, was initially difficult to see, but the play’s turn toward tragedy later makes this clear.
The cast otherwise was consistently dynamic, particularly actor James Ridge as the wealthy Jew Shylock. Despite the infamous ambiguities surrounding Shylock’s character, Ridge held the audience captive as he straddled the line between a vengeful villain and an earnestly downtrodden man. In the climactic courtroom scene, one could not help but ache with sympathy for Ridge’s Shylock as he was told that he must convert to Christianity, even as he stood seconds before with knife in hand to cut a pound of flesh from Antonio.
“The audience can readily see that [Shylock is] so wronged by the Christians that he has quite a strong right to be angry. Jim Ridge, as Shylock, didn’t hold back on the anger or his hurt,” said Jonathan Smoots, an actor playing several parts in the APT production.
Despite the heavy drama, the APT cast still had its fair share of fun, with several characters repeatedly drawing laughs from the audience. Smoots was hilarious in two separate roles, the smug Prince of Morocco and flamboyant Prince of Aragon, both suitors seeking Portia’s hand. His outrageous accents and mannerisms in the Belmont scenes broke up the tensions beginning to bubble in Venice.
Likewise, David Daniel continually served up the laughs as Bassanio’s servant Launcelot Gobbo. In delivering his character’s “Launcelot Gobbo” soliloquy, Daniel, through nimble body language and accessible tone, instantly endeared himself to the audience and effortlessly communicated the humor of centuries-old text.
The most intriguing choice made in APT’s production of “Merchant” was the provocative interplay between Antonio and Portia (played by Colleen Madden). Antonio’s willingness to risk his wealth and his life for Bassanio has been interpreted as sincere, romantic love. In APT’s courtroom scene, the tortured embrace between Antonio and Bassanio (played by Matt Schwader) as they anticipate Antonio’s death finally justifies DeVita’s stern demeanor as Antonio. Antonio is holding back because he knows that he will never be able to love Bassanio the way he longs to.
In the final scene, Antonio and Portia (now Bassanio’s wife), walk side by side off stage, gazing at one another with tension and a mutual understanding that they both love the same man. It is a perfect moment in the APT production that at once raises eyebrows and inspires chills.
Daniel, who in addition to playing Launcelot Gobbo also restaged the APT production of “Merchant” for the tour, said that scenes in the play were purposely staged to preserve the ambiguity of text.
This decision left APT’s audience the true merchant, free to find meaning in each nuance of every scene and buy into interpretations at will.
