SHADES OF SHYLOCK
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Gavin Lewis, left, Is Shylock and Christopher Gilbert is Antonio in the
Hilberry Thetare production of "The Merchant of Venice," opening tonight
and running in repertory through Dec. 9. The Hilberry production offers a
sympathetic portrayal ofShylock, in "a Venetian society in which Jewish people
were considered outcasts and often ignored and mistreated."
"The play can sustain completely
different readings and interpretations,
and a good production is a good way
to make people aware of social anxi-
eties. I don't agree with any position
[on the intent of the play], and I think
it's always a mistake to suppress the
play because it digs down deep into
what makes us nervous.
While Shylock comes across as the
villain of the comedy, the person who
stands in the way of three romances
— those of Portia; his daughter
Jessica; and Portia's lady-in-waiting
Nerissa — he also has the play's most
powerful speech, which describes the
common humanity Jews share with
Christians. That speech could be
understood as giving the character an
elevated position in the play.
"All the characters are morally
ambiguous," says Audrey Becker, a lec-
turer at the University of Michigan,
where she earned her doctorate in
English literature. "The language is
rich and allows for a multiplicity of
readings.
"The play touches many contempo-
rary subjects — including Shylock's
daughter falling in love with a
Christian. Shakespeare opens Shylock
to the sympathy of the audience, chal-
lenging the character and unraveling
the [traditional] interpretation."
Gillian Eaton, trained at the Old
Vic Theatre School in England, is
directing The Merchant of Venice for the
Hilberiy and is focusing on Shylock as
one character, not as a general expres-
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sion of some Jewish stereotype.
"I'm approaching the play as a social
comedy, a comedy of attitudes," says
Eaton, who has toured with the Royal
Shakespeare Company and has directed
for the Michigan Shakespeare Festival.
"I was very fortunate to come
across a book written in the '30s by a
man who spent a lifetime studying
Shakespeare. The point of view that
he has is that Shakespeare was looking
for an individual to personify a human
characteristic, and Shylock personifies
[rejection] in a Christian community
just as Hamlet personifies tragic intel-
lect. Shakespeare is not being anti-
Semitic; he's being clever."
Eaton points out that the play is set
when and where Christians could not
loan money, leaving money lending as
one of the few occupations open to
the Jewish population. Bassanib's
friend Antonio, one of Shylock's
adversaries, makes his money available
to friends without interest.
"When you approach the play
knowing that Antonio is undermining
Shylock's occupation, the clarity of the
play comes out in personal terms," the
director says. "The Jewish moneylen-
der was in an incredibly important
position in commerce, and Shylock's
position was therefore important.
"If we come at the play looking at
the absurdities, then we can see it as a
comedy, and humor is a mitigating
force against prejudice."
Gavin Lewis, who plays Shylock at
the Hilberry, considers his role chal-