Technically considered a comedy, The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare's most polarizing works. The story has been both derided as anti-Semitic and celebrated for its complex portrayal of Shylock the Jewish moneylender.
It’s a divide that Tony and Olivier Award-winning actor Jonathan Pryce admits troubled him when he took on the role in Shakespeare Globe’s acclaimed adaptation.
“To be honest I had never liked the play,” he admits. “Like many I found it difficult, unfunny and racist.”
Written in around 1600, The Merchant of Venice follows Bassanio’s attempts to woo the wealthy heiress Portia. In order to impress, he borrows money from his friend Antonio, who takes a loan from Shylock on one condition: If the moneylender goes unpaid, he is entitled to a pound of Antonio’s flesh.
When Antonio and Bassanio can’t pay off the debt, what follows is a memorable court scene featuring a controversial depiction of Jews.
Written during a time when Jews were banished from England (it would be another 50 years before Oliver Cromwell overturned Edward I’s 13th Century edict) and were forced to wear a red hat at all times in cities like Venice, the play has been cited by anti-Semites for centuries. The Nazis broadcast productions of it across German airwaves in 1938 following the Kristallnacht, a horrific two-day attack on synagogues and Jewish businesses.
Others, however, point to Shylock’s memorable ‘Hath not a Jew eyes’ courtroom speech as a defense of Shakespeare. The speech is among The Bard’s most eloquent, famous for its pleas of empathy from a character who is openly mistreated throughout the story.
While the role of Shylock had, for centuries, been played as repulsively evil, it’s been one of the most coveted Shakespearean parts since Jewish actor Jacob Adler’s famed sympathetic portrayal became the talk of London in 1814. The most respected of thespians – from Sir Henry Irving (the first actor to be knighted) to Academy Award winner Al Pacino – have since followed in that tradition.
Assuming the role for the Globe’s four country tour, Pryce eventually reconsidered the role after re-reading the play last year. The acclaimed actor of both stage (his award-winning turn in Hamlet) and screen (Terry Gilliam’s Brazil) arrives with new fame brought about by his memorable portrayal as the High Sparrow in the mega-hit Game of Thrones.
“I saw the play through Shylock’s eyes and, more and more, it took on a contemporary relevance,” he explains. “It’s not a racist play but a play about racism. It’s about the fear of the alien, the immigrant. It’s about building barriers and the restricted movement of an entire race. In short, it’s a play about the relationship between Britain and Europe.”
The show’s executive producer, Tom Bird, shares Pryce’s view.
“The play shines a light on the tolerance of others,” he explains. “We hope this production encourages recognition that all humans are fundamentally equal.”
London’s theater world was taken by storm when the adaptation showed last year at Shakespeare’s Globe, the reconstructed theater located a few hundred yards from the original Globe Theater on the River Thames’south bank.
The show is now in the midst of world tour that stops off at Guangzhou Opera House from August 31-September 4 and Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts from September 7-11. It will be the third time the acclaimed production company has performed on the Mainland after past tours of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet.
“The reception has been incredible from both critics and audiences,” Bird says during a rare moment of free time during the show’s tour of America. “The whole acting company is extraordinarily talented and we are delighted that most of them wanted to tour the world after the original Globe run.”
Guangzhou: Aug 31-Sep 4, 7.30pm, RMB80-880. Guangzhou Opera House, see event listing. Tickets.
Hong Kong: Sep 7-11, 7.45pm (Wed-Sat) and 2.30pm (Sat-Sun), HKD495-795. The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Lyric Theatre
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