Playwright: William Shakespeare . At: Bank of America Theatre, 18 W. Monroe. Phone: 800-775-2000; $22.50-$72.50. Runs through: March 27
It's amazing how some classical plays can take on a modern relevance when viewed against recent world events. Theatre of a New Audience's tour of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice starring Academy Award-winner F. Murray Abraham at the Bank of America Theatre is certainly entertainingly insightful example.
This sleekly modern 2007 Merchant of Venice staging by director Darko Tresnjak debuted on the cusp of the current global economic crisis. Theatre for a New Audience has revived Tresnjak's foresight-filled take on Merchant of Venice, playing now like a response to our current economic morass.
Tresnjak sets the action against the backdrop of designer John Lee Beatty's chillily corporate unit set which can suggest any number of locations from high-rise Wall Street lobbies to a high-stakes courtroom. Elevator chimes often herald the arrival of power-suited businessmen, while flat-screen TV monitors practically makes Portia's late father's odd riddles to win her hand in marriage into a weird reality TV game show.
But what truly resonates are the shocking changes of fortune experienced by the title character of Antonio and his moneylender rival Shylock. Tom Nelis' performance of Antonio brings to mind many a modern-day Wall Street executive who arrogantly bristle at the suggestion that they're anyway culpable for their actions.
It's Shylock (F. Murray Abraham in a wonderfully restrained but tightly wound performance) who points out that despite Antonio's wealth, religion and connections, his power is ultimately built on shaky credit. While Shylock's demands for a pound of flesh for an unpaid loan is truly immoral, his demands for justice will no doubt touch a chord.
Tresnjak and his insightful cast tackle this morally problematic Shakespeare play by playing up all the characters' faults. There's not only the obvious anti-Semitism displayed by most every character (including the pot-smoking servant Gobbo, enjoyably played by Jacob Ming-Trent), but some unflattering homophobia (by Ted Schneider's jokester take on Gratiano) and some behind-the-back racism spouted by the heroine Portia (a steely and smart Kate MacCluggage) directed toward the Moroccan Prince (Raphael Nash Thompson, who plays role haughty as a wealthy oil baron).
But it's not all gloom and doom, for Tresnjak and his cast also find plenty of humor throughout. Andrew Dahl stands out as the savvy gay servant Balthasar as does Christen Simon Marabate as Portia's confidante Nerissa.
Although there is a "happy ending" written for all the newlyweds, Tresnjak makes everything ambivalent. Tresnjak brings to the fore the past implied same-sex flings between Antonio and Portia's husband, Bassiano (Lucas Hall), while the former Jewish faith of Jessica (Melissa Miller) starts to grate on her Christian husband, Lorenzo (Vince Nappo).
It's these unsettling complexities and moral quagmires that make Merchant of Venice very much a play for our days.