As I mentioned in the previous blog post, since there are so many arts organizations in Chicago competing for the arts consumer’s disposable spending dollar, Chicagoans are in an enviable position. Chicago is probably one of the few cities in the world where one can go to a different arts event every night. It is exhilarating to have so many choices, but one also needs to recognize that one can’t just blow this week’s paycheck on plays, symphony concerts, or ballets. So on Saturday night, given the choice of going to yet another Tennessee Williams revival, or another rethinking and psychoanalyzing of Eugene O’Neill, or a multi-cultural staging of a world premiere of a rising playwright’s latest work, I opted for the latter, which turned out to be a great thing. The Silk Road Theatre Project’s production of Shishir Kurup’s innovative Shakespearean update, “The Merchant on Venice“, is dazzling, astounding, memorable, and highly enjoyable. Williams and O’Neill, if they were alive today, might not have thought of mixing such a potent formula consisting of the perceptions that non-Muslims have of Muslims, Hindi self-awareness, Bollywood, and a mind-blowing rollercoaster of cross-cultural references from Leif Garrett to Jim Morrison to Satyajit Ray.
I have always admired the Silk Road Theatre Project since I believe it is one of a handful of Chicago theatre companies that have a strong differentiating point of view - they only produce plays of playwrights whose cultural background is that of the countries on the Silk Road, which during it’s heyday, stretched from Italy to China to present-day Iraq, covering almost two-thirds of the world’s trade routes. I have always been in awe of the concept, but had been, in the past, disappointed by the execution (some of the plays I thought were better read than performed). The “Merchant on Venice” relocates the basic structure of “The Merchant of Venice” to modern day Venice Beach populated by Indian emigres, and then provides it with a thoroughly fresh, sophisticated spin. With this play, the Silk Road Theatre Project firmly comes into its own as, I firmly believe, a major Chicago theatrical powerhouse. This is the theatre to go to in this city when you are looking for innovative, strongly-written plays tackling cultural identity and cross-cultural interactions.
“Merchant on Venice” follows the basic plot structure of “The Merchant of Venice”: Jitendra, an ex-Bollywood actor now living in California, needs dowry money to win the hand of Pushpa, heiress to a fortune, so he asks his best friend Devendra (who is so-not-secretly pining for him) to co-sign a loan that he takes with the money-lender, Sharuk. Devendra and Sharuk have butted heads in the past, mirroring the ethnic tensions between Hindus and Muslims in the Indian sub-continent, so Sharuk inserts an unusual penalty for defaulting on the loan into the agreement: cutting off a “pound of flesh” from Devendra, specifically a portion of his genitalia. And yes, the play is written in iambic pentameter. But there are two major deviations from Shakespearean drama. First, unlike the original’s Bassanio and Antonio, whose close relationship can be best described as ambiguous, Devendra’s seemingly-unrequited love for the straight Jitendra is explicitly presented. What’s fascinating about the relationship is that Jitendra’s fierce loyalty, devotion, and obvious affection for Devendra almost make you question whether the love is in fact unrequited, and whether Indian culture implicitly sanctions such a close male relationship (this is further given context by intriguing lines spoken by a secondary character about his father having a romantic relationship with his male best friend while still living with his mother back in India). Secondly, and more importantly, the ethnicity of Sharuk, the money-lender has changed from Jewish (Shylock in the original) to Muslim. The playwright tries to draw provocative parallels between the outsider and persecuted status of Jews historically and Muslims currently. He also writes a powerfully resonant speech for Sharuk (the equivalent of Shylock’s “If you prick us, do we not bleed?” speech in the original) about tolerance and racial understanding in a world where burqas, turbans, and bearded men automatically conjure negative imagery and connotations - a mistrust and fright among otherwise logical people of the different, the other.
The acting all-around is excellent but Anish Jethmalani, who I have admired in various storefront productions around town, shines as the intense Sharuk. It is a performance of many layers and shadings. There is also a fantastic new comedic talent in the play, Tariq Vasudeva, who plays a variety of scene-stealing roles- I look forward to seeing him gain more prominent exposure in Chicago theatre. “Merchant on Venice” runs only until this weekend, closing on Sunday, November 18. Run, don’t walk, to the Chicago Temple to see what next-generation Chicago theatre can be.
Recent Comments