ED RHEE During Wednesday’s lecture-performance,
Patrick Stewart passionately rehumanizes
Shakespeare’s "Merchant of Venice" villain, Shylock.
By Michael Falcone
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Patrick Stewart didn’t need Klingons and Vulcans to teach
him important lessons about aliens. After all, he is one.
A resident alien from Great Britain, Stewart has lived in
California for the last 14 years, watching American television,
driving on the right side of the street and hearing American
accents. It’s an experience that he said has brought him a
better understanding of what it means to be the “other”
in society.
Stewart’s 90-minute lecture-performance hybrid at UCLA on
Wednesday was framed by this idea of otherness exemplified by
William Shakespeare’s character Shylock in the
“Merchant of Venice.”
By nominating Stewart a UC Regents lecturer, director of the
Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Andy Kelly, paved the
way for Wednesday’s event and the possibility of subsequent
visits. When introducing Stewart, Kelly named two criteria he used
in choosing him: “We wanted a Renaissance actor who could not
only deliver lines eloquently, but speak eloquently about those
lines.”
“Professor” Stewart, indeed, delivered on both
counts.
Stewart deftly traversed between the play’s historical
background, personal anecdotes, acting theory, and performance to
deconstruct both the role and the person of Shylock.
Shylock is commonly known as one of Shakespeare’s
consummate villains, and in Stewart’s various portrayals of
the character in the theater ““ his first was when he was 22
years old ““ he has sought to show Shylock’s human
dynamism.
The renowned actor’s version of the play’s Jewish
moneylender is far different from that of his predecessors,
especially those who acted the part in the Elizabethan heyday of
Shakespearean theater.
Centuries-old stereotypes of Jews first fueled the anti-Semitic
characterization of Shylock and have become historical vestiges
which even influenced Stewart’s interpretation of the
character.
On Wednesday, Stewart got personal and shared several of his own
school-age recollections of stereotyping. He responded to
playground bullies by telling them to stop “Jewing” him
and he assumed that a local Jewish store owner was dishonest.
“I was ignorant, I was foolish, I was ill-educated and
that was not an excuse,” Stewart said.
Though Stewart is clearly committed to preserving the integrity
of Shakespeare’s work, he took pains to avoid an
oversimplified binary interpretation of Shylock ““ either
monster or noble villain.
Stewart recognized the humor and entertainment of this often
demonized character which makes him something of a radical among
Shylock actors.
This more liberated interpretation changed Shylock from a mere
symbol to a very real character who seemed, also, to have a soul.
Stewart’s goal is not necessarily to portray Shylock as less
villainous but to rehumanize him.
Stewart’s only prop during his performance vignettes was a
black yarmulke, and unlike other Shylocks, in place of a contrived
Euro-Jewish accent were well placed pauses and a particular cadence
which revealed character through language.
The freshness of Stewart’s interpretation comes from a
fresh perspective.
“I learned never to come to Shakespeare with preconceived
ideas,” he said.
And it was preconceived ideas about Shylock that Stewart
dismantled.
Not surprisingly, Stewart’s most stunning performance of
the evening was Shylock’s famous speech which begins with the
memorable line: “I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes?”
Stewart said the scene gave him a “chill” every time it
came up in rehearsal.
He won over a standing room only crowd at The Anderson School at
UCLA’s Korn Convocation Hall at the event which culminated
with a standing ovation.