THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.

Royal Shakespeare Company.

Review by Russell Blackaller.

MAKRAM Khoury was born in 1945, in Israel, to Palestinian and Christian parents who belonged to the Greek Orthodox Church.

To fulfil himself as an actor he had to study and work in Hebrew. Now one of Israel’s best known actors, Khoury has landed the part of Shakespeare’s most famous Jew (Shylock) in the RSC’s latest production of The Merchant of Venice.

An appropriate casting, perhaps, as so much of the play deals with the outsider and social identity.

Khoury’s diction is not always perfect, but he has the gravitas and depth to draw us in. We feel his anguish when he just has to accept others spitting in his face and we understand his desire for revenge when holding the knife against Antonio’s heart.

He loses our support when we realise he would actually cut out the heart, but regains our sympathy when he is finally ridiculed and made to convert to Christianity.

But Polly Findlay’s production is otherwise ill conceived, with several ideas that are either meant to be open to interpretation or are just not clear.

The set consists of a huge shiny gold backdrop, which also covers the stage. The stage is left bare for most of the performance.

A huge pendulum swings across the stage throughout the show, making you feel sea sick and wondering why.

The actors sit on a bench when not on stage, but not all of the time and their costumes are modern, but some Elizabethan items are worn with some 1960s retro items too.

At the end the stage is covered in candles. It looks beautiful, but why? Bassanio and Antonio are in love. Why?

Despite the poor conception, there are some gripping performances, most notably Patsy Ferran as a cheeky and adorable Portia and Jamie Ballard as an emotionally troubled Antonio.

There is enough to make this production engaging, but too many aspects are just annoying.

I wonder what Makram Khoury thinks of his first RSC production!

6 out of 10.

* The Merchant of Venice runs in Stratford until 2nd September 2015. Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon. Box Office 0844 800 1110