Trip to stratford to see 'the merchant of venice'

Earlier this year in June, 10W and a group of other students were fortunate enough to see ‘The Merchant of Venice’ at The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford. We had been studying the play in class and all had our own views as to how we felt about Shylock and the other characters so we were looking forward to seeing the play brought to life on stage.

The play opened with a lively Yiddish-style dance which immediately captured our attention and helped set the very rich cultural context of the play. The set and the costumes were though, minimalist. All the male characters dressed in plain grey suits and there were often no props or furniture on stage to suggest where the scene might be taking place. It meant we had to make our imaginations work harder and also made us concentrate on what was being said and how. A highlight of the evening for many of us was when the cast involved the audience, making the play interactive and exciting. For some, it was when the lead characters Shylock, played by Angus Wright, and Antonio, played by James Garnon, whipped off their shirts in bursts of emotion!

Having studied the play in class already we were able to get the most out of the production. Most of us found ourselves mouthing the words to key speeches and we felt really involved with the trial scene because we had discussed it so closely in class. Like the image of the scales, we swung between feeling Shylock was indeed being villainous to feeling immense sympathy for him at the end of Act 4. It certainly made for good post-show talk on the return coach journey to school.

In addition to this we had the great privilege of welcoming RSC actor, Angus Wright, to Camp Hill on Monday 15th September for a lunchtime question and answer session. He was extremely interesting in what he told us about getting into acting, career highlights, how he prepares for roles, and why he played Shylock the way he did in this production. Indeed, at over 6ft tall he certainly isn’t the archetypal hunched, gabardine-clad Shylock!

The opportunity to meet Angus Wright and ask him questions about the play and the art of acting was extremely valuable and sealed our enjoyment of the play as a whole. It is something none of us will forget. We would like to thank the English Department, Mrs Neal especially, for organising both events for us.

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