‘I found it hard to like Shylock’

Shylock may be a character who appears in only five of the twenty scenes of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. He is not even the ‘merchant’ in the title. But the persona of this Jew—who wants ‘one pound of flesh’ if his loan is not repayed—has endured the passage of time.
Who can forget ‘Hath a Jew not eyes? Hath a Jew not hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?’ Lines which can be identified by most victims of discrimination.And bringing Shylock to life is Gareth Armstrong, in his solo performance Shylock which will be performed in the city.
Gareth first stumbled upon the character of Shylock, just after he had finished playing Richard III and Macbeth—two strongly defined characters. “I found it hard to like Shylock but slowly grew to understand him.� And now in the past four years, he’s taken Shylock to Europe, New Zealand, America and it’s been a sell-out success at the Edinburgh festival as well.
But to play Shylock and understand the issue of anti-Semitism, Gareth realised that research was needed and went back to the Bible and its references to Jews. “Since I’m Catholic, I had read the Bible as one. So I went back and tried to understand it from the point of view of a Jew.�
Gareth borrows a lot of scenes from Shakespeare’s original text and moves in and out between that and his text. He uses Tubal—Shylock’s sole ally as a narrator to throw light on fiction’s most troubled creations. But Gareth also points out that his version of Shylock is not entirely political and is laced with humour— “an entertaining play with a message.� About performing a role of a Jew in Mumbai, Gareth says, “I spend a lot of time impersonating a Jew. A Jewish presence in a city can influence the size and response of my audience.� He goes on to add, “I believe the Jewish legacy lives on especially in Mumbai where the Jacob circle memorialises the notable Jewish family of Sassoons.�
The play was also performed in Delhi, Kolkata, Ajmer and most recently in Ahmedabad. “Since Shylock has overtones of religious intolerance, in Ahmedabad the audience responded to the play,� remarks Gareth.
Sadly he feels that in England Shakespeare’s texts are being read lesser and lesser. And people read just a few speeches and extracts, instead of the bard’s entire plays. “So here in India, it was wonderful for me to meet students who could quote chunks of speech. Like in Ajmer, we performed at the Mayo girls’ school and as an audience they were remarkable.�
With a play with such an anti-Semitic theme, a performance in Tel Aviv was memorable. “The Jewish people found Shylock a very painful character. The silence in the audience was one of identification and a communal remembrance against the atrocities against them,� he adds.
Though the play has travelled worldwide, Gareth feels he wants to perform in Eastern Europe, “Since anti-Semitism still does exist there.�
khushnuma.d@timesgroup.com