By Kate Nickelchok (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: March 13, 2013
Three cheers, for UFV theatre’s The Merchant of Venice! How fitting that Shakespeare’s controversial play set in threes—three boxes, suitors, pairs of young lovers—would be the third production of the UFV theatre department’s 33rd year. The number, alongside many other aspects of the staging, is executed with artistic subtlety in UFV’s production.
The coincidence of thirds, however, is not what you’ll be talking about when leaving the theatre.
Director Bruce Kirkley moves The Merchant of Venice from its traditional renaissance setting to a Venetian summer in 1912. This choice moment of time both underscores and critiques the play’s overt anti-Semitism. As a 21st century audience member, it’s hard to believe that most of the “comedy” in this romantic comedy is just racial abuse towards Shylock, the Jewish moneylender. UFV’s rendition doesn’t run from the script’s anti-Semitism, but instead lays it bare for the audience to wrestle with.
Applaudably convincing in his role, the balance of play’s prejudicial tensions relies on Ron Jackson’s portrayal of Shylock. Villainous in Shakespeare’s original rendition, Shylock becomes a sympathetic anti-hero on the UFV stage. You’ll be rooting in his corner for the majority of the play. But the morality isn’t cut and dry. Just like the play’s heroines in drag, the audience is called on to judge what’s right from wrong in the end.
Before the intermission, I had thought that Jackson, a student, was really a 40-something community actor recruited to join the cast. My mistake should read as a testament to both the maturity of Jackson’s performance and the hair and make-up crew.
The professional looking visuals of the play shows off how much the UFV theatre troupe can do with so little. Even though the set, props and scenery are minimal, the exposed thrust stage still manages to feel very full. The design dresses the stage like an Italian watercolour painting; soft, romantic and complete with a tiny gondolier paddling into the sunset. The scenes feel like a roman holiday, and the sumptuous costumes will have you plotting a raid on the wardrobe room.
One thing noticeably missing from this year’s production, however, was in the inclusion of a text coach. For 2012’s staging of As You Like It, UFV theatre hired alumnus Erin Wells to help actors project meaning through the tricky Shakespearian text. Though language wasn’t always a barrier, a chunk of the script was delivered rather quickly. Thankfully, through gestures, context and bits of physical comedy, the audience was never completely lost in translation.
Despite the anti-Semitic dialogue giving the play a much more serious tone than Shakespeare originally intended, the actors break up the scene transitions with laughter. Overprotective bodyguards, Spanish rouges and sassy guitar playing keeps this comedy feeling like a comedy.
Though at times more of a delight to the eyes than the ears, The Merchant of Venice is quality entertainment for your next night out. Spotlighting the UFV talent both on and offstage, it will have you flamenco dancing after the curtain call.
The Merchant of Venice runs March 6 to 24 at the UFV Chilliwack Theatre on Yale Road. Upcoming evening performances on March 15, 16, 21, 22, 23 and matinees March 13, 14, 17 and 24. Tickets price for remaining performances range from $14 to $20. For more information, contact the Box Office at 604-795-2814 or via email
