This ‘Merchant’ Doesn’t Press to Make Its Sales

SAN DIEGO--A director attempting “The Merchant of Venice” starts with a big problem: what to do with Shylock, a venal stereotype born of the unchallenged anti-Semitism of the Elizabethan Age.

One answer is to go over the top, making Shylock the quintessence of evil, a Jewish Richard III, repellent but charismatic. The alternative--made famous by Patrick Stewart’s portrayal--is the King Lear approach, with Shylock as both victim and victimizer, undone by a cruel world and his own lack of self-awareness.

Sam Woodhouse, artistic director of San Diego Repertory Theatre, has gone for a middle course: Just play the text and let the art--and the controversy--fall where it may. The result is a Shylock (Ron Campbell) who is fascinating but never dominating and a “Merchant” that is brisk and full of Shakespearean darkness and light but never mannered or stressful. Done in modern dress, the production uses a live jazz background to provide mood and movement.

“Merchant” is often used as starter Shakespeare: The plot is straightforward, the Bard never pushes his material, and the lines are some of Shakespeare’s most memorable. The Rep delivers on all accounts, although occasionally the music steps on the dialogue.

If Campbell’s Shylock never attempts grandiosity, the other leads are similarly underplayed. The aim is to provoke the audience into thought but not push it into exhaustion.

Douglas Roberts as Antonio, whose bargain with Shylock sets up the “pound of flesh” denouement, is a melancholy sort, given to hiding the risky nature of his business ventures. Antonio’s affection for Bassanio (Mikael Salazar) is never fully explored. Other productions have suggested suppressed homoeroticism, but Woodhouse doesn’t go there.

Salazar and his Portia (Karole Foreman) are appropriately young and moonstruck, but neither would peg the sex appeal meter. The same is true of the other lovers, Jessica (Kanani Titchen) and Lorenzo (Francis Gercke).

The production’s comic energy and freshness come from supporting players, particularly Mark Christopher Lawrence as a randy Gratiano, Douglas Lay as the beady-eyed Prince of Aragon, and Walter Murray as the hot-tempered Salerio. Baruti’s comic turn as the Prince of Morocco--one of Portia’s unsuccessful suitors--is a gem. Linda Libby brings a full-bodied lustiness as Portia’s maid Nerissa. The tryst between Gratiano and Nerissa has the earthiness of the real stuff.

The core of “Merchant” is greed and prejudice, but a little sex never hurt.

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“The Merchant of Venice,” San Diego Repertory Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, San Diego. Wednesday-Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends Sunday. $23-$40. (619) 544-1000. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes.