This take on Shakespeare’s 1598 classic The Merchant of Venice has the date 1936 attached to the title. That’s because the production draws an analogy between the Jewish money lender Shylock in Venice and the Jewish female version of Shylock (Tracy-Ann Oberman) in the Jewish East End of the 1930s. It centres the action around the Battle of Cable Street of October 3rd 1936 to make connections between anti-Semitism in Elizabethan England and anti-Semitism in the 1930s. And, of course, today. I was struck by the date associations between October 3rd 1936 and October 7th 2023. So this production has an urgency and commitment to the now that makes it relevant, responsible and resonant. This version succeeds in both presenting a very watchable (abridged to a very manageable two-hour sitting time) clear and entertaining play, whilst also being innovative and creative at the same time. For me it worked. I both enjoyed the play as a Shakespearean occasion and the changes and adaptations, made to express the directors’ vision of the play. To make Shakespeare live for us today is surely what it’s all about. We don’t want a museum culture, rather we need a vibrant living culture that challenges us to question and see afresh, our classics. In this, joint directors and adaptors Tracy-Ann Oberman and Brigid Larmour have made a telling, in both senses of the word, contribution.
Shakespeare’s Shylock is one of the most controversial portraits Shakespeare ever drew. The ambiguity is indubitable. Is he a villain or a victim? This version queries our preconceptions about Shylock by making him a woman. Or should I say played by a woman as a woman. A female Shylock. I’m reminded of Andy Gray’s remark on Sky Sports: “…Will you look at that, a female linesman! Women don’t understand the off-side rule.” Our sympathy for Shylock is intensified as she downfaces both the Christian and the male power structure. Tracy-Ann Overman’s portrayal is compellingly watchable. We get why she wants revenge, as we see her traduced, slandered (“Jewish dog”) and spat upon. But we also see that she is flawed. She wants her pound of flesh at all costs. She is ultimately a tragic figure.
If a female Shylock is the most striking innovation of this production, then the second is the setting in 1936. This proves to be an immensely rich context for the play. The backdrop is the Nazis, the British would be Hitler, Sir Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists and National Socialists, the East End of London with its Jews, Irish Dockers and Lascars, contrasted with the Brideshead set of the Mitford Sisters and the British aristocrats who sympathised with the Fascists. The Daily Mail headline “Hurrah for the Blackshirts“ epitomised the era. The set provides a stunning visual realisation of this historical context. For this, we must give enormous credit to Liz Cooke. Her set design is superb. A street facade of red brick terraced houses stands in for Cable Street. The symbol of the pawn shop (three golden balls) above the door of Shylocks house and the Star of David is spotlit to identify the synagogue next door. Onto this facade, posters, newspapers, and extraordinarily evocative footage are projected to give a visceral sense of that time. Shocking headlines from the BUF’s agitprop campaign are shown too graphic to repeat here. Then, with the drawing of a curtain, we are in the world of The Mitford Sisters, who are clearly the model for Georgie Fellows’ super haughty and arch Portia. This is a very clever analogy as it allows us to see Portia as a racist in the early scenes (think Diana married to Mosley in Goebbels’ house, with Hitler as a guest) and as Jessica (human rights lawyer) in the Courtroom scene. This 1930s analogy ties the whole play together and is very well done. I can only touch on a few of the branch lines here. But I must mention Joseph Millson. He plays Antonio as a narcissistic Sir Oswald Mosley. It’s a stunning performance which captures brilliantly the combination of entitlement, conceit and paranoia which make up the Antonio/Mosley.
In my view, this version of The Merchant of Venice works because the cast, crew and creatives have got skin in the game. The play is important for them and this translates into a production which is crisp, clear, compelling and cogent.
Review by John O’Brien
With the city on the brink of political unrest, fascism sweeping across Europe and Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists threatening a paramilitary march through the Jewish East End, strong-willed single mother Shylock runs a pawnbroking business from her house in Cable Street where Mosley will march. When charismatic, antisemitic aristocrat Antonio comes to her for a loan, a high-stakes deal is struck. Will Shylock take her revenge, and who will pay the ultimate price?
Shylock – Tracy-Ann Oberman
Antonio/Arragon – Joseph Millson
Portia – Georgie Fellows
Bassanio – Gavin Fowler
Mary/Nerissa – Evie Hargreaves
Jessica – Gráinee Dromgoole
Gratiano/Police Constable – Xavier Starr
Lorenzo/Maharajah – Mikhail Sen
Yuval/The Duke/Balthasar/Blackshirt – Alex Zur
Stefania/Blackshirt – Elly Roberts
Adapted by Brigid Larmour and Tracy-Ann Oberman
Directed by Brigid Larmour
Set and Costume Design – Liz Cooke
Lighting Designer – Rory Beaton
Composer – Erran Baron Cohen
Sarah Weltman – Sound Designer
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 1936
Tue 8 Apr – Sat 12 Apr 2025
Richmond Theatre
Richmond Theatre
8 to 12 April 2025
