The Merchant Of Venice opens Sport For Jove’s first season in residence at the Seymour Centre. How exciting is it to be part of a new era?
It certainly is exciting! I’ve been a part of SFJ since the very beginning, six years ago. I remember opening our first-ever show A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Baulkham Hills Rose Garden and worrying that no-one would turn up! Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine we would be a resident company for such a great theatre space like the Seymour Centre.
What makes The Merchant Of Venice such an important Shakespearean text?
I find Merchant a very challenging and controversial play. Its moral centre is ambiguous and there are a few characters (Portia, Shylock, Antonio) competing for the audience’s sympathies. It deals with heavy themes of race, discrimination and the power of money, yet is wrapped up in a comedy. It’s a play that can have a powerfully negative influence when in the wrong hands(it was used by Hitler as a form of propaganda)and an effective one when in the right hands.
Did you grow up on Shakespeare? What are your earliest memories of engaging with his plays?
By a stroke of luck I decided to change schools at 15 and go to Barker College, where Damien Ryan (SFJ’s artistic director) was a drama teacher at the time. He directed me in a little piece from Measure For Measure for a Shakespeare competition. I remember being so inspired by the way Shakespeare explored women and the incredible language he gives them. I remember standing on the stage as Isabella and feeling so empowered by his words and feeling like I had something to say.
You’re working with director Richard Cottrell, a huge name in theatremaking. How has the experience been so far?
Richard has a wealth of experience and has been instrumental in the careers of Ian McKellan, Judi Dench and Daniel Day Lewis. He’s a very strong director and doesn’t beat around the bush when he thinks you’re not doing a good job! But he’s got a big heart and he never gives up on you. We’ve all got a lot out of working with him.
What are the biggest challenges around your role as Portia?
The biggest challenge for me is reconciling who she is in the first half of the play with who she becomes. Why would a woman who has the chutzpah to pretend to be a man, fight in court and win the day, be OK with having the decision of who she marries being taken out of her hands and decided by a ‘lottery’ of three caskets?! Also, she’s a little bit racist. A very unconventional heroine!
The Merchant Of Veniceis on atSeymour Centre until Saturday May 30.
