Overheard at District Merchants on its opening night at The New Jewish Theatre: “Shakespeare? I didn’t know this was Shakespeare!”
The extraordinary production of Aaron Posner’s play, which riffs on The Merchant of Venice the way Posner did with Chekhov in Life Sucks! (a take on Uncle Vanya), requires no familiarity at all with the older script. He moves the setting to post-Civil War Washington, DC, where the interaction between the Jewish moneylender Shylock and Antoine, a successful merchant whose father had won his freedom from slavery in the War of 1812, is the focus of the story.
Like Shakespeare, Posner’s characters speak directly to the audience, breaking the invisible fourth wall, and inviting us into the world they’re in. This makes for greater intimacy, even in this relatively small venue, although the majesty of the set is altogether fitting and proper. What they deal with on the surface – love, death, honor – is only the beginning. Shakespeare probably never realized he would give us dialogue about stereotypes regarding race, origin and gender. We have all that here, carefully, elegantly brought forward so skillfully that it catches one unaware at some points.
Two St. Louis veterans, Gary Wayne Barker and J. Samuel Davis, play Shylock and Antoine. The characters have done business before, but both are racist, their civility to each other a fragile veneer that cracks quickly. Antoine’s young friend Benjamin (Rob White) needs some cash to woo a young woman in Massachusetts he’s swooning over, and while Antoine’s waiting literally for some ships to come in, he goes to Shylock for a loan he can lend to Benjamin. The collateral? A pound of flesh. Literally. Something could go wrong here….
Shylock’s daughter Jessica (Alicen Moser), strenuously watched over by her father, is on the receiving end of some fine flirtation from a young Irish vegetable merchant (Paul Edwards). Shylock, if he knew, would be horrified. Benjamin’s beloved is Portia (Courtney Bailey Parker), a well-funded orphan who’s attending Harvard Law dressed as a man. Their obstacle is that Benjamin is passing as white, something that’s obvious to Portia’s maid Nessa (Rae Davis), a woman of color, but he says Portia just sees him as swarthy and exotic. As a bonus, Shylock’s butler ((Karl Hawkins) goes gaga for Nessa when she and Portia make an urgent trip to Washington. The impediment here is that he’s illiterate and Nessa is so intellectually agile, he’s blown away – although very far from speechless. Yes, all this does sound like Shakespeare. (He was always a guy who wanted patrons to get their money’s worth.)
Shakespeare’s play has often been considered a comedy; Posner describes District Merchants as “an uneasy comedy”, which is close to the mark. There certainly are some laughs in here, but that’s not the takeaway, nor should it be, to my way of thinking. Barker uses Yiddishisms to good effect, often as humor, but that’s only a small part of a demanding role that he carries with deep feeling. No less emotionally wracking is Davis’ portrayal of Antoine, with a near-visible restraint at some points and glowing warmth at others. This is, to borrow Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book title referring to a group of Washingtonians from six or so years earlier than the play, a true team of rivals, experienced actors working off each other.
Portia, of course, is one of Shakespeare’s great roles for women, and Parker gives a young, strong, true-hearted portrayal. Davis’ Nessa is a worthy companion for Portia’s, alert and pert and self-assured. Rob White’s Benjamin falling for a strong young woman tells us a lot about him, that he’s not intimidated by her brains or her poise, just the question of whether or not to tell her he’s passing. Lancelot, the butler, as played by Hawkins, is a zippy rendition of a character that’s more interesting than one first thinks. While the pairing of Moser’s sheltered Jewish girl and the go-get-’em Irish immigrant from Edwards does evoke Abie’s Irish Rose, it works well, too.
There are several stop-action moments when characters reflect aloud on what’s going on around them and what they’re thinking, and that further draws us into the play. Some of these are particularly worth further mulling after leaving the theater. It’s all drawn together well by director Jacqueline Thompson, who’s overall creation is completely remarkable. Her team includes the creator of the great set, David Blake, Sean Savoie, who gives us the lights, subtle but significant sound from Zoe Sullivan, and Felia Davenport’s costumes, which are as interesting for the men as the women, something that’s often not the case.
It’s an important work to kick off 2019 for the company. Don’t hesitate on this one.
District Merchants
through February 10
The New Jewish Theatre
Marvin & Harlene Wool Studio Theatre
Arts & Education Building
Jewish Community Center
2 Millstone Campus Drive