Cultural Dessert

'The Merchant of Venice 1936' by William Shakespeare, adapted by Brigid Larmour

10 March 2023

Last Saturday we were at the Watford Palace Theatre to see ‘The Merchant of Venice 1936’, Brigid Larmour’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, set in the East End of London, starring Tracy-Ann Oberman as Shylock. Casting the Merchant, Antonio (Raymond Coulthard), Portia (Hannah Morrish) and others as black-shirted followers of Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists immediately shifts your sympathies to Shylock’s East End matriarch. And showing the events of the play against the backdrop of The Battle of Cable Street gives a very different feel to most productions of ‘The Merchant of Venice’. This idea, suggested by Tracy-Ann Oberman, is not just a very clever way of dealing with a ‘difficult’ play, but allows for a much wider exploration of anti-semitism and prejudice. Watford Palace Theatre has used Brigid Larmour’s production as the basis for a wider project which includes an extended online storytelling platform: https://www.merchant1936.co.uk/ Tracy-Ann Oberman is excellent as Shylock and Hannah Morrish’s Portia as Diana Mitford is a very clever mix of sensible and sinister.

Labels: Drama, Theatre

posted by Robin Simpson @ 6:11 pm