The Merchant of Venice by Louche Theatre: Play Review

The Merchant of Venice was written by William Shakespeare in the 16th century. The production of this
play by Louche Theatre was first presented on May 5, 2017. The director and one of the actors is Harry Durnall.
In addition, the genre of the play is Shakespearean comedy. Moreover, the play is about a merchant in Venice
named Antonio who took a loan from a Jewish moneylender named Shylock to help his friend, Bassanio, court
Portia. Antonio wasn’t able to repay the loan, and because of that, Shylock demands a pound of his flesh. The
heiress Portia, now the wife of Antonio’s friend, disguises as a lawyer to save Antonio.

The production theatre was able to execute some of the elements of the play properly but could’ve done
a better job to make the play more intriguing. One of the elements presented is literary and it was above
average. The theme of the play is deeply relatable up to the present time. It deals with topics and social issues
that belong so much to the 21st century as they did in Shakespeare’s day. In relation to that, the play addresses a
father’s control of his daughter’s future; racial discrimination and prejudice; and deep true friendship.
Furthermore, the play is about an enthralling tale of greed, corruption, love and betrayal. In addition, the plot
was also satisfactory for the sequence of events was well-arranged which made it easy to comprehend and
connect all the ideas and points in the play together. The play started off by introducing the main character,
Antonio, followed by his scene with Bassanio, where he offers to help him. It was then followed by the
presentation of the root of the conflict and then the conflict or problem itself then it flows greatly to the
resolution of it afterwards.

The technical element of the play was lacking something and was deeply noticeable for the many errors
made. The same set was used all through-out the play which didn’t help in enhancing the theme and the mood
of the play for each scene. Although, the costumes were nice for it followed and matched the fashion style or
clothes of the renaissance period where the play was set in. However, their makeups weren’t really extravagant
and it didn’t match the character theyre portraying. Furthermore, there were insufficient sound effects which
they could’ve utilized to emphasize or express an action, mood, or feeling, in the play. In relation, the lights
weren’t also utilized. They just kept turning the lights on and off when they could’ve used different colors or
techniques to set the mood of the scene.

The performance element was carried out in a standard or ordinary way. Their performance wasn’t
really unique nor exemplary but it was okay. Their voices were inaudible because of the accent that they used
which made it hard for the audience to understand their dialogues. In addition, there facial expressions were
also inconsistent, sometimes it’s too strong and at times it’s insufficient which made the scenes look
exaggerated and dull. Moreover, some of the characters were just at the side of the stage doing nothing making
them look utterly unnecessary and distracting. However, despite all the things mentioned above, I could say that
they were able to show the emotions and the attitude of the character they are portraying through adequate
movements and actions which made their acting okay given that they managed to portray their characters
properly.

Louche Theatre’s production of the play, The Merchant of Venice is very prosaic and common. There
wasn’t anything special in the play, it was very common and ordinary. If you’re looking for something
enthralling and out of the ordinary, then I don’t recommend this play for you. The plot and theme was really
good and tremendously relatable, however, it was put into waste because some components or elements of the
play weren’t executed properly which made the play look bland. The play was only put into waste because they
could’ve enhanced the plot and theme through the elements which would’ve made the play more intriguing. In
relation to that, the play seemed so monotonous because the background was the same, their makeups didn’t
match their character, the lights and sounds weren’t utilized to emphasize the mood of the scenes. In addition,
their performance level wasn’t really the best and they could’ve done better. They were able to portray their
character, however, there were many times wherein their dialogues were inaudible, their facial expressions were
inconsistent, and there were some distracting things. All-in-all, it would’ve been a great play because of the plot
and theme but I wouldn’t recommend it for the reason that the execution of the elements made it tedious.