Arts

Checking in: Theater

by Jules Becker
Tuesday May 12, 2020

This article is from the May 7, 2020 issue of South End News.


Is "The Merchant of Venice" anti-Semitic? Scholars, directors, actors and theatergoers continue to debate that question and diverge greatly in their interpretations of the late 16th century play. The late Shakespeare expert Harold Bloom called the portrayal of Shylock "savagery."
By contrast, many performers Edmund Kean have often looked to the moneylender's famous "Hath not a Jew eyes" speech in making the role sympathetic. Now Igor Golyak is taking his cues from the Elizabethan era itself when audiences would have seen Shylock as a 'villain' and the play was termed a comedy.Pre-Covid-19, the Needham Jewish director had planned to stage his present day-set Actors Shakespeare Project revival at the Boston Center for the Arts-a production he hopes to return to late summer or early fall.
"For me," the Arlekin Players artistic director asserts, "it's absolutely clear that this play was anti-Semitic. The (Elizabethan) public would have laughed. I think Shakespeare's genius gave birth to something that changed over time." Sympathetic interpretations aside, Golyak observes in a director's note that "The Merchant of Venice" was a prescription by Goebbels (the Nazis' propaganda director) as part of the Final Solution and proof of why the Jewish people deserved to be exterminated."
In fact the Nazis made the play a significant part of their radio broadcasts after Kristallnacht (1938) and presented productions in Nazi territory. "In Nazi Germany," Golyak submitted, "people were booing Shylock."
In the ASP staging, Golyak has audience members reacting in a variety of ways to reflect their changing reactions. "For me," he admitted, "the journey the audience is going through is even more interesting than what's going on." Here there are applause signs. Golyak recalled theatergoers both applauding and crying after the previews and at a talkback.
Golyak means to challenge audiences. Alluding to Sasha Baron Cohen's unusual look at anti-Semitism in his in-your-face film "Borat," he explains, "We took the clichés and stereotypes that people use. The first time Shylock (played by Nael Nacer) comes out, he is wearing a mask and a big nose. This is the way Nazis would see him."
In the ASP revival, the perception of Shylock is essential. For example, when ship merchant Antonio and his financially strapped best friend Bassanio step offstage, Shylock takes off his mask and becomes a real person. "It (the perception of him)'s a shock to the audience," Golyak alerted. As for Shakespeare's audiences, he contended, they would have seen the play as "a comedy that ends with a happy ending." That 'happy ending' would have meant the respective marriages of Bassanio (Alejandro Simoes) and Portia (Gigi Watson) and Lorenzo(Peter Walsh) and Jessica (Anna Bortnik) and the downfall of Shylock for trying to obtain a pound of Antonio (Dennis Trainor) 's flesh without a drop of blood. (Golyak does not give added attention to the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio, though he does allow that the former is probably gay and the latter arguably bi-sexual). "For them (Elizabethan audiences), it (the play and its meaning) was very simple."
No such simplicity applies today according to Golyak."I think that after the Holocaust there's no way to look at the play that way." In his view "There is absolutely no evidence that Shylock converted (to Christianity). (Spoiler alert) Golyak sees the play moving "from a Venetian Carnivale-cabaret into the Holocaust."
Here he greatly credits scenic and costume designer Nastya Bugaeva, a Moscow Art Theatre professor who also worked on Arlekin's "The Stone" and "The Seagull." Working with an eight-member cast—the others Mara Sidmore as Portia's maid Nerissa and Jordan Palmer as Shylock's servant Launcelot Gobbo, Golyak has also relied on the efforts of Washington, D.C. puppet designer Ksenya Litvak. Here secondary characters Gratiano, Salerio and Solanio become puppets. In the revival, he explains, "We do that (their dialogue) as a radio show. They're there to tell what's happening."
Describing his approach, Golyak confesses, "I didn't try to be provocative but I think it (the revival) came out to be."
Very positive about the revival's future, Golyak speaks of ASP artistic director Chris Edwards "looking for space to remount it. He's talking to the BCA and to other venues."

"Merchant" may be on hold, but strong work on Arlekin Players Theatre's "The Stone" and "The Seagull" has now garnered him Elliot Norton Awards small or Fringe Theater directing nominations for each. All together, the nominated productions have earned a total of 10 nominations-among them Anne Gottlieb's fine work in "The Seagull."
Major BCA —staged nominees include Moonbox Productions' powerful revival of the Leo Frank Trial-centered musical "Parade" —with eight. Moonbox (with 12 nods) also received best musical attention for its sharp revival of "Caroline, Or Change" Another small or fringe production nominee is Israeli Stage's provocative "The Return"-with four, including a direction nod for Guy Ben-Aharon. SpeakEasy Stage is a midsize stage major contender with 13 nods ranging from "Pass Over" and "The Children" to "Admissions" and "Choir Boy." Large stage leader Huntington Theatre is the most nominated company with 16 —including recognition for "The Purists" and director Billy Porter (a Tony winner as drag queen Lola in "Kinky Boots."
Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the 38th annual awards ceremony will be held virtually Monday May 11(at 7 p.m.) For a full list of nominees, go to the Elliot Norton Awards website.