Let’s Make a Deal

Kelsey Theater stages ‘The Merchant of Venice.’

By: Stuart Duncan

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Stephen Kazakoff is Shylock and Elizabeth Hults plays his daughter,


Jessica, in the Shakespeare ’70 production of The Merchant of Venice.


   The Merchant of Venice has always been a bit of a puzzlement to scholars. Is it a comedy as many have agreed? Is it a drama with comedy highlights? Or is it a tragedy that just happens to come out rather smoothly?
   For Frank Erath and the Shakespeare ’70 troupe, the best thing to do is to let the playwright show us the way. The Shakespeare ’70 group, as the title implies, has been staging the classics for 37 years now, and until recently opened the summer season at the Open Air Theatre in Washington Crossing Park.
   And this production is the troupe at its very best — a blend of veteran actors much accomplished and used to working together to maximum effect. Among those veterans are the husband and wife team of Carol Kehoe and Stephen Kazakoff. Director Erath uses them to perfection in the top roles. Kehoe mixes a sensational comedy skill with her special brand of female diffidence and in her opening scene sets the mood of the evening as she taunts her pompous suitors when they try to pass "the test of the caskets," choosing between gold, silver and lead for her hand in marriage.
   Scholars have always argued that the plot line was available only in Italian and therefore the simple Man of Stratford who did not read Italian could not have been the author of this 1495 play. But that’s another discussion. While Ms. Kehoe taunts such actors as John Anastasio as The Prince of Morocco and Dale Simon as the Prince of Aragon, Kazakoff plays Shylock, the money lender, to perfection. Never once does he overact the dangerous dialogue, nor yet is he trapped by Shakespeare’s devious plot twists. He is able to develop a very rare sympathy for the Jew and it adds a new dimension to the evening.
   George Hartpence plays Antonio with his usual understated intelligence (it’s actually the title role) and Tom Curbishley plays Bassanio, the successful suitor, with easy charm. Tracy Hawkins has a terrific time as Nerissa, Portia’s maid and confidante. And Tom Moffit makes a return to the group after a three-year battle with a serious illness that has left him sightless, in the role of Old Gobbo. And what a welcome return it is.
   Erath sets the tone of the evening with an apology pre-curtain for certain boo-boos in the program, and then goes ahead and tops his own performance with a show that should be seen by everyone with even a minimum interest in Shakespeare. Beautifully set and costumed.
The Merchant of Venice continues at Kelsey Theatre, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor, July 6-7, 8 p.m., July 8, 2 p.m. Tickets cost $12, $10 seniors/students/children; (609) 570-3333; www.kelseyatmccc.org