CEDAR CITY — A hilarious spoof of one of the world’s worst western films, "Johnny Guitar," William Shakespeare’s disturbing comedy, "The Merchant of Venice," and the romantic "Peg o’ My Heart" have more in common than their theatrical heritage. Each play in the Utah Shakespearean Festival’s fall season challenges audiences to see in themselves the flaws of the characters. Each play, too portrays how "the other," or the stranger in our midst is treated. "Johnny Guitar," with a book by Nicholas Van Hoogstraten, music by Martin Silvestri and Joel Higgins, and lyrics by Joel Higgins is a delightfully over the top play based on the 1954 film and the novel by Roy Chanslor. Competing women, Vienna (Misty Cotton), a saloon owner branded a tramp by the town, and Emma (Melinda Pfundstein), whose family owns the town bank, are at each others’ throats. Vienna is pro-railroad. Emma hates the idea of progress. Vienna invites a gunfighter (Johnny Guitar played by John Bisom) to help her face Emma, but he makes enemies of The Dancin’ Kid (Michael Sharon), another of Vienna’s associates. There is jealousy, gunplay, an plans for a hanging, all in good fun, as the battling women tear the town in two, and everyone is forced to take sides. At the bottom of it all is the difference between Emma, the long-established power in the town, and Vienna, who represents change. Considered a comedy in Shakespeare’s day, when Jew-baiting was accepted practice, Shakespeare created the character of Shylock the money-lender at a time when there had been few Jews in England for decades. In 1290, "the entire Jewish community of England had been expelled and forbidden on pain of death to return," wrote Stephen Greenblatt in "Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare." Today, many see the treatment of Shylock as an anti-Semitic comment, and some would remove "The Merchant of Venice" from Shakespeare’s comedy canon and move it into the history collection, or even place it among the tragedies. Director J.R. Sullivan describes Shylock (played by John Pribyl) as "the play’s force and a study in unrelenting vengeance... We find him an ‘outsider’ from the beginning..." Sullivan urges the audience to look at "The Merchant of Venice" and its Shylock (who isn’t the merchant, by the way) "...anew. The so-called ‘problems’ of the play become the center of its complicated life. Once again, ‘the form and pressure of the time’ is unpacked with the trunks that contain the old play." This is a dignified presentation of "The Merchant of Venice," which has not lost its comic edge. Michael Sharon’s Antonio (the merchant), Elijah Alexander’s Bassanio, and John Pribyl’s Shylock struggle with promises made and justice demanded. Sara Kathryn Bakker’s Portia commands the stage, but brings compassion to her character even as she demands Shylock’s conversion to Christianity, a point of the play with which I am uncomfortable. In J. Hartley Manners’ "Peg o’ My Heart," it’s a high-spirited Irish Catholic girl, Peg (Marcella Rose Sciotto) thrust into the staid British side of her family who is the outsider. Made the ward of her uncle, who dies suddenly, Peg is sent to live with her aunt, Mrs. Chichester (Sara Kathryn Bakker) and her snooty family, who have been the victims of a bank failure. Their only hope for survival is the money they receive to educate Peg, whom they disdain. It’s up to Peg, with her bright personality and her hope to win the family over. The fall season runs through Oct 28. Call 435-586-7878 or 1-800-PLAYTIX.
Stay Connected With Us