BY CHANTAL RACHEAU

Shakespeare: to most people the name means unintelligible and boring plays.

I am happy to say that Southern Virginia University's production of "Merchant of Venice: written by Mr. Shakespeare was completely understandable, and far from boring.

I'm always wary of people performing Shakespeare, having seen some atrocious Shakespeare plays, but I was elated to find at SVU a show that completely enchanted its audience.

Theater Spotlight

Orson Scott Card, a professor of English at SVU, has written an adaptation to the Merchant of Venice that makes it far more understandable and enjoyable for today's audience while still maintaining the integrity of the language.

Aesthetically, the play was full of color and pageantry. The set was simplistic and representational of the columns and halls of Venice, which made it applicable to the many locations needed in the play. Further, the many levels the set created aided the actors in providing visually stimulating movement. The costumes were gorgeously detailed in rich colors and fabrics and were a lovely representation of the Renaissance period.

"The Merchant of Venice" is a story of love, acceptance and mercy, but, more importantly, it's a story of humanity. This comedy tells the love story of Bassanio and Portia, and how their love was made possible through the dear friendship of Antonio and the wisdom of Portia. Antonio borrows money from the Jew Shylock so that Bassonio can woo Portia; however, when he is unable to repay his debt, Shylock uses the contract to repay the Christian Antonio for his ill-treatment as a Jew. How is this a love story, you might ask? Well, you'll have to go see it to find out. Not only is it a love story but it is also a witty comedy with characters that will have you laughing from beginning to end.

As always, I like to give praise where it is due, and my first congrats is to the whole cast for pulling off a Shakespeare play so eloquently and exuberantly. I had a wonderful time watching this piece and must congratulate the cast for making my experience an enjoyable one.

A few people, though, stood out above the rest. Kaitlin Bellamy played the character of Guinevere and every time she came onstage laughter erupted. I looked forward to her every entrance. The character of Graziano played by Caleb Dransfield was equally enjoyable in his bawdy sarcasm and his Tigger-like movement bouncing all over the stage. His smile was absolutely infectious and the audience couldn't help but to love him.

Although all of the actors earned praise, my best actress award goes to Arielle Tanner who played the lovely Portia. I was impressed with this young actress when I saw her in "Stone Tables," but she completely won me over in her performance of Portia. This character is a difficult one to perform as she is a combination of mischief, romance, joy, seriousness, wisdom and straightforwardness. The actress has to play two different characters (which I won't reveal here so as not to ruin the surprise) and has to do it convincingly. Arielle Tanner was wonderful! She showed youthful bloom and joy, but also aged wisdom and discernment. I look forward to her next performance.

I have but one criticism for this production and that is in regards to the adaptation/ director's interpretation. Although overall I liked the adaptation as it simplified the text but still maintained the integrity of the poetry, I was not in love with some of the edits made to the text. The original play runs about three hours and Card consolidated it to two hours.

This was appreciated, but I felt that some of the humanity of the characters was lost. What I always loved out this play was that both Shylock and Antonio had been wronged, both showed their humanity in all of its ugliness, and both sought mercy.

In this adaptation it appeared to me that Antonio was presented as a saint and Shylock a maniacal villain. I'm not sure if the portrayal of the characters was a part of the written adaptation or director interpretation, but I felt that this part of the story was lacking. The love story seemed to be the focal point of the show, but I felt that the application to the world we live in of discrimination was lost. However, this by no means discourages me from encouraging area residents to see the production, which in every other way deserve abounding praise.

"The Merchant of Venice" continues Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 26-28, at 7:30 p.m. in Chandler Hall. Tickets are $6 for general admission and $4 for SVU students, faculty, and staff.

This is part of the February 18, 2009 edition of The News-Gazette.