Under Development
IF this company ever mounts anything less than a handsome production,
you can have a pound of my flesh. There is nothing less than promise in the sight
of Gavin Ling's set of colourful, weathered walls baked by the Italian sun. Then
comes a burst of Venetian baroque music. Suddenly, then, it's Que Sera Sera and
a stage full of voluminous skirts, a Vespa and la dolce vita.
It's the late 50s for this play of loyalty and love, friendship and forgiveness, the quality of mercy and the quantity of money. If only money, like mercy, "droppeth as the rain from heaven", this play would be over a lot sooner.
Given the languorous opening - three 50s tunes before a word of dialogue? -one might have wondered if it was ever going to start, never mind finish.
However, this engrossing story soon warms with the appearance of Shakespearean stalwarts like Mike Evans as the agreeable merchant who secures that 'pound of flesh' loan from Shylock for his penniless pal, Bassannio. His love for Portia is nicely signalled by a burst of 'Dreamboat' although, for me, British and American popular tunes didn't sit that comfortably in this Italiano ambience.
Given post-Holocaust sensibilities, Shylock, the loathed Jewish moneylender, sits even less comfortably in this time setting - I winced every time the word "Jew" was spat out. However, Alan Smith ultimately and triumphantly makes the weaselly and greedy Shylock a tragic, wronged figure.
As Portia, Elaina Evans is typically elegant and poised and has quiet authority in the dramatic and charged court scene in the second half. Why, though, in the first half, do the scenes with Portia feel so far away? A substantial slab of front stage space is hardly used.
In the space that is used, it's good to see fledgling actors coming through, though some need more presence and projection.
Overall, an ambitious production, flawed but never less than handsome - I keep my pound of flesh.
Ashleigh Franklin
Derby Evening Telegraph, 30th January 2002