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there are moments which, when contexed against today’s globally expressed antisemitism, already make the show feel out of date.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