The Merchant of Venice
Apr. 27th, 2015 09:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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flawedamythyst's birthday celebrations a group of us went to see The Merchant of Venice at the Globe Theatre. I didn't like the play when I saw it at the RSC four years ago and I still don't like it. Everyone says it's a problematic play, which is it, and I'm left thinking why perform it if you can't give it a decent angle. It was also a cold afternoon, which didn't help - my knees still feel stiff today.
However, Jonathan Pryce was excellent as Shylock - I'm really pleased to have seen him act on stage. He made the character three dimensional. I also liked Jessica, who, I discovered today from listening to Pryce on the radio, is played by Phoebe, his daughter. And Stefan Adegbola, who plays Lancelot Gobbo, was also good, his timing making everyone laugh.
I realise given the plot I'm not predisposed to like any of the other characters, but found the acting rather flat, and at times slightly tedious. Maybe the actors, too, weren't convinced by their roles. And there wasn't the traditional Globe dance at the end of the performance.
I had been debating about seeing Mariah Gale in Measure for Measure when I'm in London this summer, but it's another Shakespeare play I'm not keen on and being at the mercy of the weather (yes, I know that's the point of The Globe) when I could do something else, means I've decided not to see it.
My overall conclusion: I preferred The Jew of Malta.
flawedamythyst's birthday celebrations a group of us went to see The Merchant of Venice at the Globe Theatre. I didn't like the play when I saw it at the RSC four years ago and I still don't like it. Everyone says it's a problematic play, which is it, and I'm left thinking why perform it if you can't give it a decent angle. It was also a cold afternoon, which didn't help - my knees still feel stiff today.However, Jonathan Pryce was excellent as Shylock - I'm really pleased to have seen him act on stage. He made the character three dimensional. I also liked Jessica, who, I discovered today from listening to Pryce on the radio, is played by Phoebe, his daughter. And Stefan Adegbola, who plays Lancelot Gobbo, was also good, his timing making everyone laugh.
I realise given the plot I'm not predisposed to like any of the other characters, but found the acting rather flat, and at times slightly tedious. Maybe the actors, too, weren't convinced by their roles. And there wasn't the traditional Globe dance at the end of the performance.
I had been debating about seeing Mariah Gale in Measure for Measure when I'm in London this summer, but it's another Shakespeare play I'm not keen on and being at the mercy of the weather (yes, I know that's the point of The Globe) when I could do something else, means I've decided not to see it.
My overall conclusion: I preferred The Jew of Malta.
