OK production
Anthony Sher gives a sober, dignified performance as Shylock in an otherwise conventional production. Emma Fielding is a delightful Portia; Roger Allam not quite up to the mark as Antonio (he isn’t sad enough, or mean enough to Shylock). Lancelot Gobbo and his father are OK but not especially boisterous. Gratiano is high-spirited but not as wild as Mercutio, who is described using some of the same terms. The lights and celebrations of Belmont can’t hide the fact that this is a brutal world to outsiders. Antonio insults Shylock behind his back and to his face and spits at him. Boys follow Shylock in the streets and mock him. Although it isn’t mentioned in the play, it may be worth noting that moneylending was the only profession open to Jews; all others were closed off by law. So when Shylock says the court is taking away his life when it takes away his means of living, he is not being melodramatic. The music is disappointing. Naxos usually does a better job fitting selections from its vast catalog to the play in question, but here the selections are standard-issue baroque; the selections before and after the trial are especially jarring in tone. And one final note. Publishers are audio dramas like this have long assumed the listeners will have access to any printed material that accompanies the CD. But in the streaming world, that material is often unavailable, as here, and so it's impossible to identify the full cast. Actors should probably consider getting this written into their contracts: there is no reason the cast list can't be read as part of the conclusion, as the names are reliably announced at the end of each title in the Arkangel series. I'm not saying this is a bad production, just that it's fairly tame, and that the performances don't display any particular insight. It serves to communicate the text of the play but not to embody a vision of the play, as many of the other Naxos titles succeed in doing.