Casting a shadow

 I don't mean to belabor the whole Shylock topic -- I know I have written about him as character and as Jew elsewhere and I know that I have made reference to current controversy regarding a particular actor playing the role but I was struck with an idea this morning and it was too good not to share.

Let's assume that an acting troupe has the ability to play A Comedy of Errors. That play has within it 2 sets of twins. Leverage that in the casting of Merchant. Have two twins play Antonio and Shylock, and the other two play Bassanio and the Prince of Morocco (have those two be a bit swarthier in general appearance, or at least well tanned).

Then, for the Shylock character, don't have him wear anything that would make him externally associated with being Jewish. Don't have him "act" Jewish, or don ritual clothing. Have his Jewishness be a function only of what others say about him. Same for Morocco -- when he says that he is considered good looking where he lives, that will be doubly powerful if he looks like the person whom Portia "fell in love with" based only on those same looks.

There is nothing that I can recall, other than the labeling of the characters, that identifies Shylock as Jewish. Yes, he has a beard. I assume that that wasn't unique to Jews at the time. Yes, he says he will go to a synagogue, but that is external to who he is -- it can't be seen on him when he walks the streets. He is a money lender, but in a sense, so is Antonio. Yes, he wore gaberdine. Unless someone wants to make the case that this was a fabric reserved as a clothing for Jews (or if it is the fabric from which a yellow star is crafted so that there is some ability to differentiate between Jew and non-Jew) the calling it "my JEWISH gaberdine" would make the label the only distinguishing point.

Have characters put the stress on the one factor -- the name. Have them say it slowly and with derision, trying to force to "Jewishness" in to its sound (I recall anti-semites referring to me as "Shlomo" though that is not my name, because it sounded Jewish enough that they could say it as an insult). Have Shylock say his and his friends' names quickly and with little that would make them sound any different. True, Tubal, Chus and Shylock are not classic Italian names so they would naturally sound alien, but they can be glossed over (seasoned in the charge, if you will) so that they need not be a focus. But the non-Jews drag them out to make their point.

If we, as readers, want to see the true insidiousness of anti-semitism, wouldn't the best proof be exactly what Shylock argues -- that Jews are EXACTLY like non-Jews? Then the hatred is only about names and labels, not anything that really is part of the character! And Portia's racism (judging based on geography and association with a skin color which might not, were it associated with another area, be problematic) is laid bare.

Instead of trying to show that the Jew is visibly different, let's show that your average, run of the mill Jew, looks, sounds and lives much like those around him. He tries to blend in and even assimilate, at least in public, and yet it does him no good. He holds a hatred partially based in the same use of labels (hating because they are Christian) but he can also point to actions whereas they cannot.

To my mind, this would present a much more damning picture of the racism, anti-semitism and blind and blunt meanness of the Characters in the play. It would create a more resonating expose on how and why people hate when they hate without cause, distilling their venom through nothing more than a label, one that cannot be corroborated or correlated to any actions by the named "Jew."

You want a version of the play that blows the lid off of evil, try it this way.

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Bassanio and Morocco never appear on stage together. The same actor can be used for both roles. No change in clothing.