Word: shylocking
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL, Stratford, Conn. Morris Carnovsky is Shylock in The Merchant of Venice; Cyril Ritchard doubles as Oberon and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream; Maria Tucci plays the title role of Jean Anouilh's Antigone until Sept. 10. Macbeth joins the repertory July...
...Shylock of the 1957 production was Morris Carnovsky. Now, a decade later, Carnovsky is Shylock again. His was a supreme portrayal now. Shylock is not the most difficult role Carnovsky has undertaken, but it is the one that he has completely fleshed out and raised to the level of absolute perfection. I do not mean to imply that his portrayal is a frozen one. For, while both versions achieved perfection, they are markedly different...
Carnovsky himself has lucidly discussed his original view of the part in the essay "On Playing the Role of Shylock," which he wrote for the 1958 Laurel edition of the work, and which I highly recommend. Carnovsky's 1967 Shylock is a considerably less sympathetic figure than the 1957 one, though by no means thoroughly odious. This change is quite in keeping with Kahn's new approach to the rest of the dramatis personae...
Although Carnovsky is now ten years older, his current Shylock strikes me as being about ten years younger than the former one, even though he now sits down more than he did before. And he now relies more strongly on the motive of revenge than he used to. Carnovsky has wholly mastered that curious unique diction used by Shylock, with its short bursts of speech and verbal repetitions; he has assimilated it so well that he has even added a few repetitions...
...have before us, then a Shylock who is repeatedly called a dog. And this Shylock has indeed become a dog. He has, in fact, become top dog. The point, however, is that he is top dog among dogs (and bitches). If you do not like the idea of this view of the world, this should not keep you away from Kahn's production. For we are not likely to have a greater Shylock in our time than Morris Carnovsky...