January 9. 2004 * Just out 3g
THEATER
Our pound of flesh
International relations
Discos, office buildings and Antonio and Bassanio
between the sheets in the all-new The Merchant of Venice
by
Portland Center Stage welcomes
Hungarian director Robert Alfoldi
C hristopher M c Q uain
hen Chris Coleman, artistic director of
Portland Center Stage, traveled to
Budapest in early 2001 as part of an
international theater exchange, one
play stood out from the rest as a candidate for
import: a production by Hungarian director
Robert “Robi” Alfoldi of William Shakespeare’s
The Merchant of Venice.
Though Alfoldi’s script retained Shakespeare’s
original dialogue and language, he had provocatively
transposed the story of a Venetian man named Bas-
sanio, his friend Antonio— the titular merchant—
and the strange pact made between them and Jew
ish moneylender Shyltxrk from 16th century Italy to
the contemporary milieu of post-Cold War Hungary.
In addition to Alfoldi’s modem settings—discos,
offices and apartments, with the action set to video
playback and contemporary pop music— the most
provocative aspects of the new production were die
implicit commentary via Shylock (who has fre
Bassanio (far left) has great affection for Antonio (far right) in Hungarian
quently been regarded in scholarly circles as an anti- director Robert Alfoldi's new version of Shakespeare’s The M erchant of Venice
Semitic gesture) upon the rise of neo-Nazism and
anti-Semitism after the fall of communism in Hungary and the fla
All the planning and preparation put into arranging the
grantly sexual relationship lie tween Antonio and Bassanio.
fresh rendering of Merc/umt (including some down-to-the-wire
This strong male friendship had been danced around and
wrangling over visas for Alfoldi and his translator, described by
conjectured about by sundry academics through the years— but
PCS artistic producer Rose Riordan as “a very lengthy, compli
now it was boldly depicted physically, creating a forthright love
cated process...a nail-biting time for all of us”) should result in a
triangle with the two and the target o f Bassanio’s marriage plans,
rich payoff for anyone fortunate enough to catch the show,
the rich heiress Portia, amid the stresses of fledgling capitalism—
which promises to be a visually engaging, visceral experience
a scenario that wouldn’t be out of place in a Fassbinder film.
that bypasses the cerebral to hit below the belt.
In Coleman’s diary of the trip, published by The Oregonian
No need to fear the boredom of a conventional, by-the-
later that year, he wrote, “It was evident to all that Bassanio’s
numbers interpretation of the play or the rigors of a postmodern,
feelings for Antonio were far more than merely friendly...the
deconstnictionist approach, a concept balked at by all parties
lights came up to reveal Antonio and Bassanio, wrapped only in
involved. “Far from being a subversion of Shakespeare’s text,
sheets, one on top of the other on the floor.’’
Robi works within it, taking his lead from the original and
O f the triangle’s resolution, Coleman wrote: “It ends with
amplifying it,” says PCS literary director Mead Hunter.
what looked like a compact between Antonio, Portia and Bas
Adds Coleman: “I hate the word ‘deconstruction.’ It makes
sanio. Portia and Bassanio would marry— and Antonio would
me think of boring...productions that I avoid at all costs.
still get some on the side,” before concluding that “it was a
[Alfoldi] is trying to make a production that speaks to our lives.
dynamic, incredibly provocative production.”
You say ‘Eastern European artist’ and everybody here thinks arty
Coleman, who is gay, tells Just Out: “It was totally gripping
and self-conscious. What I find more and more is that European
emotionally. It was about my story. About my life, about my
artists are speaking to us in a voice that is filtered through
relationships. It felt deeply connected to the 21st century. And
American popular culture.... You should expect something very
it didn’t hurt that the actors were really sexy.”
accessible, direct, funny and alive.” J D
W
N
ow, Merchant is finally hitting Portland, and Alfoldi is
coming with it. Excitement crackles in the air at Portland
Center Stage as staffers welcome their guest from overseas.
“I think it is a unique honor to be able to introduce an artist
of this stature to the U .S.,” Coleman says enthusiastically. “I
liked Robi immediately. He’s dynamic and funny...land] his
work is like him: dynamic, funny, sexy, hold, irreverent.”
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Portland Center Stage presents T h e MERCHANT OF VENICE Jan. 13
to Feb. 1 at Neumark Theatre, 1111 S.W. Broadway. Tickets are
$16'$51 from the box office or 503-274-6588. Gay and Lesbian
Audience Night is Jan. 20, with a post-show reception benefit for
Cascade AIDS Project. Tickets are $60.
CHRISTOPHER
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M c Q uain is a Seattle free-lance writer.
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n addition to originating the
internationally acclaimed,
award-winning interpretation of
The Merchant of Venice he’s now
directing for Portland Center
Stage, Robert Alfoldi is a highly
regarded director and actor as well
as a well-known television talk
show host in Hungary’. While
preparing his U.S. directorial debut
in the Rose City, he shares his
comments on modernizing Shake
speare (or not), the Antonio/
Bassanio relationship and the
“Shylock problem."
I
Robert Alfoldi
Christopher McQuain: What specifically made The
M erchant of Venice a candidate for the kind of modernization
you’ve given it?
Robert Alfoldi: In Hungary, after the change of the commu
nist system, hatred against all kind of minorities broke out, just
like a bad genie from the bottle. Anti-Semitism, primarily...I
am stunned by such aggression.
I did not look for a piece that 1 could “modernize”. . .it is
more of an attitude [of thinking] about classics in a contempo
rary way, looking at how it relates to our days.
CM : What does the fact that Antonio and Bassanio are
now lovers signify?
R A : The essential conflict of the play is stronger if Antonio
has deeper affection towards Bassanio. But I would like to empha
size that this is not my invention; a number of drama and literary
historians have pointed out the closeness of their relationship.
CM: How did you deal with the play’s perceived anti-Semitism?
R A : The question is, if somebody is constantly humiliated
and looked down on by others and that motivates his extreme
behavior, whether you can consider this [depiction] as anti-
Semitism [on] the part of the playwright. Had, indeed, Shake
speare been anti-Semitic, he would have never included Shy-
kick’s monologue [“Hath not a Jew"] in the piece.
C M : Yours was the first Hungarian production of the play
in 4 0 years. How did audiences teact?
R A : It became an event in Hungary. People talked about it,
they initiated conversations. And this is the director’s task: to
pose the questions instead of giving answers.
C M : Have you made alterations to take into account
geographic/societaf/cultural differences?
R A : Yes, and [also] because that production was produced
eight years ago in a different context, in a different space with
different actors. Our production is not a copy of a previous one
but one that resonates here in Portland in January 2004. JH
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