The Merchant of Venice...or Stratford. The latter was what the BYU theatre company called their production during the show. I found that the production was extremely far from anything that I was expecting and I was expecting at least a little bit of watered down show. For starters I was a little weary in the beginning when the characters asked the audience to name the money, place, and business for the show. The purple turtle yogurt land place of business seemed to distract more than it provided for kid entertainment.
The production as a whole, I'd give a 5 out of 10. I thought that the use of kids to play characters such as Narrissa was cute and gave more audience interaction. As well as letting the audience play a variety of other roles that had a place, but didn't really need a stellar performing actor. That made the audience more interactive and brought it closer for the kids. I also really liked how they made the language more understandable for the young audience. They picked more understandable lines and then in plain english briefly explained what was going on. It was still a little high for the children, but they could definitely follow the actors for the understanding.
I didn't feel, like I mentioned earlier, that changing the name of the place or money, just made it a little too silly and not helpful. It didn't seem to make any sense and it didn't seem to help. The very start of the show where they played a silly child's game to help orient the kids into the story, I felt actually had a place.
The acting for the production was relatively good. I liked Andy as Shylock and Sarah as Portia and Bassiano. I felt they were decently loud and expressive. They were good with the kids and helped move the story along. I was unimpressed with Antonia. She seemed too quiet and she didn't have the same energy.
For a children's show, it was ok. I still felt like they could have taken out the changing of the names and it would have made a much better production.
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