Such is the case with his Shylock in the Central Park
production of the Bard's still-controversial "The Merchant of
Venice." Although his performance in the 2004 film often came across as
mannered, his current stage rendition, while still possessing self-conscious
qualities, is undeniably mesmerizing. Humanizing the character by bringing his
pain and anguish to the fore, Pacino is the standout of director Daniel
Sullivan's intelligent and thoughtful revival, which naturally has sparked a
ticket frenzy for its limited summer run and talks about a possible Broadway
transfer.
Set vaguely in the Victorian era, the production doesn't
sacrifice the comedic aspects of the play -- the scenes involving Portia's
(Lily Rabe) ill-fated suitors are among the funniest ever seen, for instance --
but its atmosphere is mainly harrowing. Antonio (Byron Jennings), the Christian
nobleman in debt to Shylock, is here depicted as a loathsome aristocrat whose
barely disguised contempt for the moneylender helps fuel his ire. Being
prepared to give up his literal pound of flesh, he is chillingly strapped into
an antique medical-examination chair.
Perhaps the director's biggest innovation is the addition
of a powerful silent scene in which one sees Shylock submitting to a forced
baptism. It not only vividly conveys the character's humiliation but also his
inner strength as he afterward immediately resumes wearing the yarmulke that
has been stripped from his head.
Speaking in a soft, sing-song voice, Pacino at first
playfully emphasizes the character's wily intelligence and humor as well as his
pained awareness of the marginal role in society to which he has been
consigned. But after Shylock has been betrayed by his daughter, Jessica
(Heather Lind), who has run off with the Christian Lorenzo (Bill Heck), he
accentuates the anger and bitterness that feeds his subsequent cruelty.
