Last Tuesday I turned 20. Making me, according to my husband "an official adult." With this adulthood I felt a new responsibility to find joy in sophisticated, non-childish things. This weekend, however, I'll admit that I loved the children's production of "The Merchant of Venice." This is a rough explanation but here's how I put it for my husband, "it's kind of like Shrek, the kids love it but they're not sure why. And the adults are pleased to find that it is clever and witty and has a lot of humor the kids don't necessarily understand."
As far as casting goes, I felt that Portia and the story teller were very well casted. Portia had the air of a smart but pretty woman with a little bift of a rich-girl sass in her. I felt like she had the perfect amount of impatience to portray that she hadn't had to wait on many things but not too much that she was obnoxious. I was very impressed with the story-teller, I liked how they took the approach of having her be capable of playing both male and female roles effectively. She made a wonderful Prince of Morocco, a great Judge, and she became a confidant - you trusted her to tell you what's going on in the play. Before the play began I overheard her talking to many o the children almost gaining their trust so they'd listen to her throughout the play, which I thought was brilliant.
As for Shylock, I got chills during his "if you prick us, do we not bleed" speech. I'm just not sure if it was because who was saying it our because of the words themselves. I thought Shylock's lines were delivered well and his stature pegged him as an older man. I got the feeling that he was a father being picked on by his daughter's friends. Even though he was physically superior he was still demeaned.
I felt like Bassanio was a very lively character and that he was well-casted in that he seemed childish, immature and like he was just going along for the ride. I felt like he was a teenager torn between his friends. His stature, compared to Shylock, showed (I felt) an age difference between them where there was no other means to show the difference.
Antonio. Antonio was the character that I felt was the most poorly-casted. I don't mean to be harsh, it was just something about her presentation that seemed too forced and unnatural. I felt that having Antonio (Antonia) cast as a woman did help to relieve some of the awkward bromance feelings between Antonio and Bassanio. Maybe they intended for me not to like Antonia. I felt like she was trying to steal Bassanio from Portia, and it bothered me. Because Antonio was Antonia I felt that it lessened the strong friendship presented in the original play and hyped the romantic factor, which I wasn't in love with.
A brief word on costuming...I didn't understand Bassanio's blue hair except to entertain the children. I loved that Portia's dress had keys all strung across the back, alluding to the keys used to unlock the boxes. I felt like the keys surrounding her portrayed the idea effectively that she is a prize and a mystery to be unlocked. I thought it was helpful to have all the Tharians identified by their matching necklaces, I felt it made Shylock's forced conversion very clear to the children. I'm not sure I loved Antonia's sort of luck-of-the-irish get up.
As far as casting goes, I felt that Portia and the story teller were very well casted. Portia had the air of a smart but pretty woman with a little bift of a rich-girl sass in her. I felt like she had the perfect amount of impatience to portray that she hadn't had to wait on many things but not too much that she was obnoxious. I was very impressed with the story-teller, I liked how they took the approach of having her be capable of playing both male and female roles effectively. She made a wonderful Prince of Morocco, a great Judge, and she became a confidant - you trusted her to tell you what's going on in the play. Before the play began I overheard her talking to many o the children almost gaining their trust so they'd listen to her throughout the play, which I thought was brilliant.
As for Shylock, I got chills during his "if you prick us, do we not bleed" speech. I'm just not sure if it was because who was saying it our because of the words themselves. I thought Shylock's lines were delivered well and his stature pegged him as an older man. I got the feeling that he was a father being picked on by his daughter's friends. Even though he was physically superior he was still demeaned.
I felt like Bassanio was a very lively character and that he was well-casted in that he seemed childish, immature and like he was just going along for the ride. I felt like he was a teenager torn between his friends. His stature, compared to Shylock, showed (I felt) an age difference between them where there was no other means to show the difference.
Antonio. Antonio was the character that I felt was the most poorly-casted. I don't mean to be harsh, it was just something about her presentation that seemed too forced and unnatural. I felt that having Antonio (Antonia) cast as a woman did help to relieve some of the awkward bromance feelings between Antonio and Bassanio. Maybe they intended for me not to like Antonia. I felt like she was trying to steal Bassanio from Portia, and it bothered me. Because Antonio was Antonia I felt that it lessened the strong friendship presented in the original play and hyped the romantic factor, which I wasn't in love with.
A brief word on costuming...I didn't understand Bassanio's blue hair except to entertain the children. I loved that Portia's dress had keys all strung across the back, alluding to the keys used to unlock the boxes. I felt like the keys surrounding her portrayed the idea effectively that she is a prize and a mystery to be unlocked. I thought it was helpful to have all the Tharians identified by their matching necklaces, I felt it made Shylock's forced conversion very clear to the children. I'm not sure I loved Antonia's sort of luck-of-the-irish get up.
I loved how they had the keys on Portia's dress as well. Your description of their significance is right on the mark.
ReplyDeleteHow the actors interacted with the kids before the play was great. It was wonderful to see so many little hands shoot up into the air when it came time to volunteer for a part in the action.
Oh, and welcome to the world of adulthood. :)
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