Review of The Merchant of Venice

So, last Saturday when we all went to see the Merchant of Venice, I had gone with some mixed feelings.  Mostly just because of how Antonio (an older man in my mind) was to be Antonia (a younger woman) and how it appeared online that the Prince of Morocco was to be white (I guess you can't help that though, but it threw me off!).

In the end, though, I really liked it.  I think it really served the purpose that was chosen for it, which was, in my mind, definitely a difficult undertaking.

To begin with, there were a couple of things, either because of how the play was performed or simply by seeing it acted out instead of me merely reading it, that really opened my eyes more.  For example, the unfairness of the entire play toward Shylock stood out a lot more in large part because of the great portrayal of Shylock and small things the cast did like when Antonia spit on Shylock at the very beginning.  Another thing that struck me differently was seeing Bassanio as a jerk to Shylock.  It is definitely ingrained in me that "the good guy gets the girl" (yes that is a reference to Megamind), yet Bassanio got the girl and was really really mean in many ways to Shylock.  He had absolutely no respect as one should have toward another human being.

Another thought that I had during the play was how  well the cast acted to help younger kids understand.  For one, Portia could easily relate to middle school girls.  She was so giddy, or so cruel, depending on the suitor. In addition, having the audience act out certain parts--especially main parts like Nerissa's--was an excellent touch.  It was really engaging for all of the audience as the kids were so cute acting along, and it is so much more fun for them too.  I do believe that, despite all dialogue being in Shakespeare's prose, everyone was able to better understand the plot because they were actually able to be physically involved in the play.

Finally, I really liked how there was a definite moral at the end of this play.  They started by applying it to kids in school with Bassanio's dinosaur being stolen and with him then being teased.  At this time I thought to myself: "Great. Just great.  This is going to be a long hour.  I left shows like this (where the acting is over the top as they are portraying children fighting) behind a long time ago because I cannot stand them!"  And then I was pleasantly surprised by a great play.  It was good, in my opinion, to start this way because they were then able to finish with an appeal to the audience.  "Was it fair?  What was right?  How should it have been?  What would you have done?" Finishing like that really was a great touch.