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Children, teenagers and parents from Centrestage Drama
club's West Linton groups met at Traquair House last
Thursday to see Shakespeare At Traquair's latest production,
The Merchant of Venice. From the very start audience
members were in the middle of the action as the play
kicked off with a busy Venetian marketplace. The traders,
most of whom are children themselves, shouted and argued
in Venetian as the children from the audience sampled
goods and tried to haggle. As the story got underway
a group of younger children at the front of the audience
were surprised to find themselves used as props as
the Players conversed, joked and greeted each other.
This was, as always, a superb experience of Theatre
and of Shakespeare for all of us who were there.
Review by Liam Goodacre, liam@sonicattack.com
For me there is perhaps nothing that characterises the best
of arts and culture in Peebles more than the performances
of Shakespeare at Traquair house. What started off as a fund
raiser for an Arts Centre by Under One Roof has turned into
an annual event which brings the quirks and charms of the
stately home alive and the delights of William Shakespeare
to actors and audience alike, while also delivering a stunningly
good performance.
‘The Merchant of Venice,’ was no exception
in its embrace of the play, and succeeded once again in
inspiring both the cast and the audience. The roles of
the main characters, particularly Shylock, were very strong,
which is clearly a credit to both actor and director. The
acting and audience interaction noticeably improves every
year. Indeed, one of the most fascinating aspects has been
to see the same core of dedicated actors develop over the
years to the current level.
This year, the production as a whole felt more established
and confident. There was less effort to enchant the audience
with impressive scenery and dancing fairy-like children
in the interval, and a more concentrated and minimalistic
focus on the performance itself. Whilst this was effective,
I did feel that there was a loss of interaction with the
grounds. Where in the past scenes have been daringly set
in the more magical parts of Traquair, this year less exciting
areas were utilised, which did little to enhance the play
when compared to past performances.
While there was a loss here, I believe that it was a partly
result of the more adventurous and challenging choice of
play for this year’s production, a fact which in
itself is a tribute to how far the team has come. Overall
this was yet another refreshing and enjoyable performance
to add to a legacy of such productions, and it leaves me
eagerly anticipating news of next year’s presentation.
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