The Merchant of Venice 1936 - Review

Trafalgar Theatre, London

*****

Written by William Shakespeare

Adapted by Tracy-Ann Oberman and Brigid Larmour

Directed by Brigid Larmour

Tracy-Ann Oberman

It is nearly two years since Tracy-Ann Oberman’s Merchant of Venice 1936 opened at Watford’s Palace Theatre in a production that realised Oberman’s powerfully driven mission to take Shakespeare’s classic tale and shift it through four centuries and a 1,000 miles to London’s East End at the time of Oswald Mosley and a focus on the play’s troubling antisemitic narrative. 

Since that opening however, sorrows have befallen the world’s Jewish communities not single spies, but in battalions. The barbaric terrorist assault on Israel on October 7th 2023 unleashed an outpouring of Jew-hatred across the globe in which loudly shouted criticisms of the Jewish state have proved to be little more than thinly-veiled calls for the eradication of the entire Jewish people. While Oberman’s brave production is a tribute to the heroes of the 1936 Battle of Cable Street there are moments which, when contexed against today’s globally expressed antisemitism, already make the show feel out of date.

Now at the Trafalgar Theatre before re-touring the UK, Oberman reprises her Shylock in a performance that remains steeped in the stance and tone of an eastern European immigrant. When her Shylock speaks of being spat upon and treated like a dog by Antonio and his fellow citizens, there is an understated heartbreak to the hatred that she has experienced.

A significant cast change sees Antonio, the Merchant, now played by Joseph Millson. With his character depicted as a prominent member of Mosley’s British Union of Fascists, Millson brings a sharpened gravitas and credibility to the role and a scornful hatred of Shylock that is palpable. Other notables in the cast are Gavin Fowler’s continuing as Bassanio, a performance that has matured into the character’s nuanced complexities and sexualities over the months. There is equally fine work from newcomer to the production Georgie Fellows, who carries the Mitford mantra into her take on Portia.

Interestingly, and again in the context of a 2025 viewing of the production, Grainne Dromgoole’s take on Jessica achieves a further perspective. Hers is the assimilating Jew who discards her faith to follow her love for Lorenzo but yet who, through having been born a Jew, is still scorned by the gentile fascists. Her character echoes those Jews today (and indeed other minority groups too) who appeasingly befriend their enemies while remaining blind to the underlying hatred that can lie just beneath veneers of apparent tolerance.

Watched today, the courtroom scene in which Shylock having already lost his family is now stripped of his fortune and his faith, brings a chilling resonance that Oberman and Larmour in writing their adaptation could scarcely have imagined. Their production may have transported the Duke and his court from Venice to London, but in events that have mirrored the 19th century Dreyfus trial, 2024 has seen new Dukes emerge to hold Jew-hating courts in Pretoria, The Hague and Dublin to name but a few. 

Shakespeare had his Shylock exit the play in act four. In Larmour and Oberman’s truncated fifth act, the devastated moneylender remains on stage throughout, her presence a haunting reminder of the destructive power of hate.

Back in 2023 The Merchant of Venice 1936 was compelling. Two years later it stands as essential and unmissable theatre, brilliantly performed.

Runs until 25th January, then tours

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

The Merchant of Venice 1936 - The Oldest Hatred Is Back

Tracy-Ann Oberman and the cast of The Merchant of Venice 1936

Theatregoers have long been used to bag-checks as they arrive for a show. What they will be less familiar with are uniformed security guards, there to protect the show’s cast, crew and audience and who have now become a routine feature of performances of Tracy-Ann Oberman’s Merchant of Venice 1936.

When the production opened in February this year at Watford’s Palace Theatre there was no overt security presence, with Oberman winning critical plaudits both for her tackling of Shakespeare’s study on antisemitism as well as her re-interpretation and re-gendering of Shylock. Rather than sixteenth century Venice, this take on the play is set in 1930s London against the attempted rise of British fascism and the Battle of Cable Street. Oberman describes The Merchant Of Venice 1936, with its focus on a female Shylock and the East End of London’s response to Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists, as “the project of her life”.

But in the midst of a (long pre-planned) tour, the context of this production was radically shifted. Barely 7 months after the Watford press night, on October 7th, the terrorist organization Hamas launched an attack on Israel that in one day saw 1,200 people murdered, countless others raped and brutalised, and more than 200 hostages taken captive into Gaza. While the victims of that infamous day came from a range of countries, the vast majority of them were Jewish Israeli citizens, with the antisemitism that motivated the attack being the most horrendous assault on Jews since the Nazi Holocaust of the 1930s and 40s.

What gives an even more shocking angle to Oberman’s Merchant of Venice is that within days of the October 7th attack, some of Britain’s streets were filled with supporters of Hamas celebrating the terrorists’ horrific deeds. Those celebrations continue to this day, with London and other cities around the world now seeing weekly marches calling for the destruction of the State of Israel, “from the river to the sea”.

It is this outpouring of vile antisemitic rage that offers such a grotesquely chilling parallel to the London of 1936 as presented in Oberman’s interpretation of the play. And sadly it is the risk presented by those potentially violent antisemites that now demands the presence of uniformed security guards as part of the show’s travelling entourage. 

The play itself has matured on the road. Speaking with Oberman as the London run at Wilton’s Music Hall (a venue poignantly situated just off Cable Street) ended and with the show about to head up to York, she commented on the play’s impact following the Hamas attacks and the ensuing torrent of antisemitic hatred onto the streets:

“I’m overwhelmed by how powerful people are finding this production, particularly with a huge rise of antisemitism in the United Kingdom And globally, I think people are aware that during times of unrest the Jewish community is often the first group to be targeted. As we know what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews”

Edmund Burke famously said that “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. In 1936 as London’s antisemites wearing the red and black armbands of the fascist movement and accompanied by the Metropolitan Police attempted to march through the very heart of London’s Jewish community, it was the actions of thousands of Burke’s “good men”, decent Londoners from all communities who stood side by side with the capital’s Jews in the Battle of Cable Street to defeat the evil. Today, rather than armbands, the antisemites are wearing the green and black headbands of Hamas and as they march down Park Lane and onwards, streaming across the Thames, they are terrifyingly cheered on by thousands.

That Oberman’s Merchant of Venice continues to play to packed houses across the country reminds us of England’s underlying decency. Let us pray that that decency can triumph.

With Tracy-Ann Oberman at Wilton's Music Hall

The Merchant of Venice 1936 is on tour playing in York, Chichester and Manchester. In the new year it returns to the RSC in Stratford on Avon. To book tickets, click here

The Merchant of Venice 1936 - Review

Watford Palace Theatre, Watford

****

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Brigid Larmour

Tracy-Ann Oberman and cast members

To read my interview with Tracy-Ann Oberman click here

For the second time in six months, the dramatic whirlwind that is Tracy-Ann Oberman has seen a play open that has not only been her brainchild, but has boldly and bravely put antisemitism firmly centre-stage. Her first foray into this field was at the Royal Court in September in what turned out to be a flawed piece of modern writing. This time however, by setting The Merchant of Venice to a backdrop of British fascism in the 1930s, Oberman has hitched the wagons of her creative firepower behind probably the greatest ever writer of English literature and the result is impressive.

The Merchant of Venice 1936 is an exciting interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s most troubling comedies and set against the era of Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists, one sees how easily the Jew-hatred of the Venetians can be translated across the continent to the British Isles. Pause longer, to consider the real impact of Jew-hatred in Europe that blazed in furnaces at that time and the reflection becomes even more chilling.

In a gender swapped Shylock, Oberman transforms the Jewish moneylender into a thickly accented matriarch. An immigrant from eastern Europe, her Shylock is drawn from her great-grandmother who hailed from Belarus and with an opening scene that includes lighting the sabbath candles and blessing a glass of kosher wine (dozens of which are shared with the audience in an opening mise-en-scene) Oberman makes a bold statement that this production of The Merchant of Venice will be firmly rooted in Shylock’s Jewish heritage and the hatred that she and her community endured then and to this day.

Oberman makes fine work, not just of Shylock’s complex motives, but also of some of the most cracking monologues in the canon. Hearing a woman complain of being spat upon, kicked and mocked takes the play’s already present antisemitism and fuels it with a deeply disturbing misogyny. That the homosexual love between Antonio and Bassanio is so strongly signalled in Brigid Larmour’s direction, only adds a troubling depth to the woman-hatred that this Shylock suffers.

The supporting cast are all sound, with standout work from Raymond Coulthard as the fascist Antonio and Hannah Morrish as an icily Mitford-esque Portia. Indeed, when Jessica (Graine Dromgoole) finds herself having eloped to Portia’s Belmont, the diffidence with which she is treated by her hostess together with her coterie, offers a subtle further take on the immigrant Jew as an outsider, never to be truly adopted into their country of residence however hard they may try to assimilate.

Erran Baron Cohen has composed an intelligent musical  soundtrack to the play – part schmaltzy Jewish melodies that reflect the scenes in Shylock’s home contrasted with ingeniously Cole Porter-esque tunes that reflect the profound antisemitism of the champagne-quaffing patricians. Liz Cooke's design work on set and costume offers up an effective transition between London’s East End poverty and Belmont’s beauty, while her fascists are elegantly clad in black, as Oberman’s Shylock sports a stunning fur trimmed coat.

If there’s a flaw it’s that perhaps the finale’s segue into the 1936 Battle Of Cable Street is an overly abrupt jolt that follows hard on the gentility of Belmont. Equally there’s a disappointing use of the Union Flag draped around the shoulders of a fascist thug. While the flag may well have been adopted by some uglier aspects of society, it has also been a symbol to immigrants as they stepped off the boat, especially those fleeing persecution, of a land that represented hope and opportunity. 

Tracy-Ann Oberman’s production is fine, informative theatre. The Merchant of Venice 1936 offers up not just classic verse, but also a history lesson on this country in the early 20th century. Well worth seeing.

To read my interview with Tracy-Ann Oberman click here

Runs to 11th March and then tours

To book for Watford Palace Theatre, click here

 Photo credit: Marc Brenner

Tracy-Ann Oberman in Conversation

Tracy-Ann Oberman in rehearsal

Opening next week at Watford Palace theatre is The Merchant of Venice 1936, a production that is the brainchild of actress Tracy-Ann Oberman who, for a number of years, has nurtured the idea of taking one of Shakespeare’s most controversial plays and pivoting it into the 20th century.

I caught up with Tracy-Ann in the middle of rehearsals and we spoke about its conception and development. Describing The Merchant of Venice as a very difficult play, she does not think that the text is taught properly in schools today, observing that a lot of people argue for it to be removed from the syllabus. Oberman however wants to make the play accessible, offering a fuller understanding of antisemitism, as well as reclaiming aspects of the Jewish history of London’s East End, an area of the city long associated with poorer immigrant communities. Her own roots go back to the East End and she remains inspired by her great grandmother and the matriarchs of her family who all stood against Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists at the Battle of Cable St in 1936.

She comments that Shakespeare wrote the The Merchant of Venice at a time of huge antisemitism, when the Jews had already been banished and the few that were left in England were frequently seen as devils. The emergence of mediaeval antisemitism was strongly fuelled by Jews often being the money collectors for the king.

Around this time the myths about Jews and blood libels were to emerge, myths that have never really left the English sub-conscience, Oberman wryly comments. And so the Jew, as a sort of evil villain she continues, was absolutely where Shakespeare wanted to place him, much like Marlowe had done with his creation of Barabas for The Jew of Malta. 

With all due humility, Oberman does credit Shakespeare as a very good writer. She acknowledges that in Shylock he has created aspects of humanity which are frequently absent from other portrayals of Jews in literature, notably The Jew of Malta where Barabas, in her opinion, is simply a cartoon villain. She comments that in The Merchant of Venice the “’hath not a Jew eyes” speech is brilliant, describing it as an absolute call to humanity to say that we are all the same, that we are all human.

Hannah Morrish as Portia

Oberman has long been fascinated by Britain’s history in the 1930s, a time that saw flirtations from the country’s aristocracy with the parties of fascism both at home and in continental Europe. It is no small coincidence that Mosley’s march of fascists that led to the Battle of Cable Street, occurred during the brief reign of Edward VIII, himself strongly suspected of harbouring fascist ideals. Oberman sees the play as shining a spotlight into some of this country’s darker crevices. 

She is also proud of having reinvented Shylock as a female role and in so doing, reclaiming a different aspect of the narrative. Referencing how within the text, that Shylock is referred to as a dog and Antonio, the merchant to whom Shylock has loaned money secured on a pound of flesh, kicks at her and spits at her, Oberman sees a clear link between misogyny and antisemitism. She is well qualified to make such an observation. Away from the stage Tracy-Ann Oberman is one of the UK’s leading campaigners in today’s fight against antisemitism, a role that has seen her subject to some of the vilest abuse imaginable. Oberman has seen all too clearly in her inbox and her social media streams the seamless link betwixt the hatred of Jews and a hatred of women.

On the subject of women I quiz Oberman on Shylock’s relationship with daughter Jessica. Penned by Shakespeare with a father/daughter perspective in mind, how is the mother/daughter dynamic evolving? The mother of a teenage daughter herself, Oberman observes that Jessica has the capacity to range from being her mother’s best friend to her worst enemy and she is relishing that parental aspect of the role. 

Exploring as to how this interpretation of the play may be received by people who don’t share Oberman's Jewish heritage, she comments that she’s already observed people who’ve seen the play in rehearsals, friends of hers from working class backgrounds or diverse immigrant backgrounds, who are are recognising aspects of her Shylock in their own heritage and also with Shylock as a matriarch, identifying strongly with the strong woman that Oberman portrays. 

The conversation would not be complete without an understanding of the supportive role that Watford Palace Theatre have played in bringing the play to fruition. Oberman speaks with an affection towards the venue that is almost tangible. Growing up in the London suburb of Stanmore, close to Watford, she would visit the theatre often as a child and it was there that her passion for acting was encouraged and nurtured. In later years and meeting up with Brigid Larmour, the Artistic Director of Watford Palace, it was Lamour who asked the actress what she was doing, to which Oberman replied that she was working on “this idea of a female Shylock”. From there the two of them took the idea forwards, receiving developmental support from the RSC, with Oberman reflecting warmly that Larmour has proved to be an incredible ally both creatively and politically.

In the first scene of The Merchant of Venice Antonio famously says the world is “A stage where every man must play a part”. On the Watford Palace stage Tracy-Ann Oberman will be upending Antonio’s words in what promises to be an exciting evening of Shakespeare.

The Merchant of Venice 1936 runs from 27th February to 11th March and then tours

To book for Watford Palace Theatre, click here

The cast of The Merchant of Venice 1936

Rehearsal photos by: Marc Brenner

The Merchant Of Venice - Review

Shakespeare's Globe, London

*****

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Jonathan Munby

Phoebe Pryce and Jonathan Pryce

Jonathan Munby's production of The Merchant Of Venice at Shakespeare's Globe is likely to prove a long remembered classic. The staging offers an interaction with the groundlings that defines the raison d'être of this remarkable venue and with some of the Bard's finest verse bestowed upon both Shylock and Portia, Jonathan Pryce and Rachel Pickup respectively provide a masterclass in English poetry. 

It can be all too easy to forget that The Merchant Of Venice is one of Shakespeare's comedies. Munby's production however makes much wonderfully timed merriment, with Stefan Adegbola’s Launcelot Gobbo putting on a class act that is as much Vaudeville stand up as it is classic Elizabethan drama. Elsewhere, David Sturzaker’s drunken Gratiano and Dorothea Myer-Bennett as Nerissa make for excellent comic foils.

The design of both costume and stage is gorgeous. The dress is of the period, with the Venetian masked Carnevale a prominent theme. Designer Mike Britton's Belmont is suggested magnificently by drapes of burnished gauze that billow in the Southwark breeze, cleverly catching the light and evoking a modest understatement to the wealth of Portia’s estate 

So much for the hilarity, there is heartbreak too - and in the most complex of parent-child dilemmas, Pryce wrestles with the demands of his Jewish faith as daughter Jessica spurns both father and tradition for her gentile lover, Ben Lamb's Lorenzo. That Jessica is played by Pryce's real life daughter Phoebe (who eschewing any whiff of nepotistic stunt-casting, more than earns her stripes) only adds to the moments of emotional devastation hurled at us. 

Much too is made of Bassanio's bisexuality as Daniel Lapaine and Dominic Mafham’s Antonio the eponymous Merchant, make frequent references to their past love. Away from the comedy again, Munby spotlights Portia's anguish as she comes to realise her new husband's sexual history, making for another neat and credible shot of pain.

Throughout, Munby's work is nothing short of visionary. His Princes of Morocco and Arragon (Scott Karim and Christopher Logan respectively) are stereotyped caricatures - indeed Karim’s Arabic creation could be straight out of Disney's Aladdin. But Munby knows just when to ease off too. Whilst his Princes may be buffoons, there is no hint of grotesque Jewish caricature to Shylock, with the director letting the evil of the play's prejudice speak for itself.

Whilst Shakespeare's original English text is respected, Munby takes brave linguistic licence elsewhere. Shylock and Jessica converse in Yiddish behind closed doors, whilst a devastating epilogue sees the now proselytised Jewess lament in Hebrew, whilst her father is subject to the full baptismal onslaught of a Catholic Latin liturgy.

But the heartbeat of this production lies in its devastating depiction of racist hatred. Shylock speaks of having been and is, spat upon. The courtroom scene is imbued with a lynch-mob menace that bays for the Jew’s blood. Whilst his desire for murderous vengeance can never be condoned, this production more than most, speaks clearly of the lifetime of abuse that the old money-lender has endured.

In what is likely to prove one of the capital’s stand out Shakespeare plays of the year, Pryce’s performance dominates and devastates. We share the pain of his yelp as his skullcap is brutally removed, realising more than anything else that the prejudices of 17th century Venice were barely different from those of Hitler's Berlin in the 1930s. And when we read today of the barbarity wreaked upon Iraq's Yazidis and upon many of Africa's Christian communities, we can only weep at Shakespeare's timeless wisdom.

Runs until 7th June

Image by Manuel Harlan