PETals

Shylock / Shyla Reveals...

by Giridarshini Subramaniam



Like most teenagers I too thought Shakespeare was boring and difficult to comprehend until I was a part of The Merchant, The Moneylender and The Mistress, an adaptation of his Merchant of Venice. This was the second project that I took part in since the Pancatantra Ensemble staged excerpts of William Buck’s Ramayana. Being so inexperienced in theater, I did not expect at all that I would be given such a heavy role. Initially, the role of Shyla (who happens to be the main character and the villain of the story too) was supposed to be played by a much veteran actor (Sukanya akka). However, due to circumstances she pulled out and I was given the chance to play the role of the eccentric Jewess moneylender.

Like I said earlier, I’m an amateur and to be given the role of a villain, I seriously had no clue how I was going to pull it off. Playing the bad guy (or woman in this case) was indeed fun and exciting for me. The role was heavy and challenging, yet it’s the challenge that made it all thrilling for me. The dialogues were not easy either. Since the play is written in old English, I had to make sure that I understood every word in the script so that when I delivered my lines to the audience, it didn’t seem like Greek to them. The court scene had the longest dialogues and deepest meanings. Therefore, I had to say my lines very clearly and carefully here. However, on one of the performance days, I believe I was delivering my lines faster than the usual pace. Luckily for me there was a second chance and I made sure I didn’t repeat the same mistake.

Another thing I had to pay attention to in this act was my facial expressions. This was mainly because I was ‘different’ from the other characters. For an instance, throughout the act I kept a frown on my forehead and made my eyeballs look as if the were going to pop out any moment. This helped me look evil and easily despised.




My hunched back posture certainly hurt a lot but it was worth the pain. Certain individuals may think that the Jewish moneylender was being too dramatic, but I think that the way I played her was the way I saw the woman to be. I thought the exaggeration in her speech and her body language made her stand out from the other characters. (There isn’t right and wrong in drama anyway, is there?)

I liked how humour was slit amidst the villainy of the Jewess. Then again, it was not easy to maintain the villainy and still be comical. It was certainly a challenge to do so. Somehow, playing Shyla made me realize that she had her reasons for acting the way she did towards the rich merchant. I remember the night that we were to find the core of our character; we had come up with an idea that Shyla might have had feelings for the Anthony. Therefore when she’s spurned by the man she loves, it turns into hatred and then revenge. It was pretty interesting to use that idea and then to apply it while acting.

The intensity in the court scene is one that I can never forget. Everyone in the court scene played their role well causing the build up in the climax. The most important thing I learnt being part of this play is how to work as a team. Ensemble work requires the effort of each and everyone that happens to be part of the play. Even the smallest role can seem big in a team work like this one (remembering the gaoler).

posted by ketO9lives @ 5:24 PM