By RAY KELLY
The restoration and debut of Orson Welles’ film The Merchant of Venice earlier this month provides ample reason for providing an update on the new play Orson Welles/Shylock.
Matthew Chiorini’s play was staged at the Columbia Festival of the Arts in Maryland in April with subsequent performances at Le Moyne College and the “Shylock Project” Summer School and Conference in Italy, where it was hailed by organizers as one of the highlights of the program.
Since then, Chiorini has been fielding invitations for performances in the U.S. and abroad, including an invitation to return to Venice as part of the celebrations surrounding the first-ever production of The Merchant of Venice to be staged in the Venetian Jewish ghetto next summer.
Billed as a “docu-fantasy radio play,” Orson Welles/Shylock recalls Welles’ unsuccessful attempts to play the role and the surprising and haunting ways that his life overlapped with the character.
“I did some quick research wondering if Welles had ever played Shylock, and found the amazing story of his lifelong interest in the role, his many unsuccessful or unsatisfying attempts, and then the final, lost, version as part of Orson’s Bag as his heartbreaking last assail, not to mention the powerful and devastating ‘trenchcoat’ versions of ‘Hath Not a Jew Eyes,” Chiorini said. “There’s so much overlap between Welles and Shylock-the feeling of wanting to be a part of Hollywood and a proud outsider at the same time and the almost-personal relish the lesser men of Venice/Hollywood take in knocking this too clever outsider down a few pegs, and ultimately having everything taken from him and being outcast. When you factor in that – according to Gary Graver – those trench coat versions of the soliloquy where he begins to tear up were filmed in Malaga and he’s buried not far from there, it’s just too much dramatic and narrative meat to be ignored! ”
He added, “There are just a lot of fascinating ways the two stories weave together, and it’s not a story that most Welles people or Shakespeare people are familiar with. The recent discovery and restoration of the film kind of takes some of the mystery out of the play and it’s so much more dramatically satisfying to imagine that the reels were stolen rather than just lost, but I think it still works! Hopefully we’ll have more concrete offers and opportunities over the next couple of years and we’ll find a patron to publish or produce it.”
The play and tour are now available for booking and purchase.
Venues and promoters should visit orsonwellesshylock.com for more details.
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