The Merchant of Venice

This was Oswaldtwistle's first production of the new season and what a choice! Whilst I always enjoy a good comedy, or murder mystery, you can’t beat a bit of the Baird. This was a bold choice and director Chris Knight had put an eighties spin on the production to bring it to life and make it more accessible – rolled up jacket sleeves included! Fortunately for me this was my O’level (remember those?) study piece so I had a good idea of the storyline, but even without this the players told the tale most admirably, no mean feat!

So to the players; Paul McGowan did a fine job with the hapless merchant Antonio, who appears to be willing to sacrifice a great deal for his friend, Bassanio, played with aplomb by director Chris Knight, in order to aid him in his quest to woo the fair Portia well played by Gayle Knight.

Bill Mercer, Anthony Flanagan, Michael New and Sophie Fitzpatrick took on the various friends and associates of Antonio and Bassanio and played them with great humour, Shakespeare can still raise a good chuckle if well delivered. Lorenzo and Jessica, the object of his affections, played by Ryan Baron and Rachel Perkin respectably, made good playing partners and delivered believable performances. Also worthy of mention playing The Prince of Morocco was John Kirby and an amusing if rather difficult to fathom interpretation of the Prince of Arragon by Steve Jackson.

The jewel in the crown of this production though was Michael Flanagan’s portrayal of the Jewish money lender Shylock. It would be easy to do a Jewish parody of this character and make it work, more difficult and exactly what Michael accomplished is to give this character the depth and feeling he deserves, a thoroughly believable and balanced performance.

As in everything, this was balanced by James Smyth’s portrayal of Lancelet, Shylock’s servant. It was a good effort by young James and all his lines were delivered, however many were lost in delivery by too much haste. Less conversational and slower delivery to the audience would have much improved this performance, but a good effort never the less.

Other society members took on the other minor roles and all added to the quality of the performance, so well done to everybody.

It’s nice to listen to audience comments when considering a performance such as this one and all I heard was positive, which is what any society seeks to achieve, so well done to all for an excellent nights entertainment and for having the forethought to stage this ambitious piece, I’m looking forward to the next!

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