The untraditional Merchant of Venice set. (Photo by Matt Knutson)
Taking a peek inside Smith Theatre, people may notice the huge changes that are taking place. Instead of black walls and red seats, one can see pops of bright colors, a dock and a bigger stage.
The Waldorf theatre department is producing The Merchant of Venice November 18-21.
“We normally don’t want people to see the backstage or the balconies, but we needed the space for this play. The concept we are going for is a city street,” said Assistant Professor of Theatre and Merchant Director Jeremy Fiebig.
“Most people think that Shakespeare is boring because it’s taught boring and portrayed boring in the theatre, when it actually used to be like a football or baseball game,” said Fiebig. “It was very interactive with dance and food being sold. I wanted to bring that to The Merchant of Venice.”
The theatre is taking a different approach to the set this year: everything seen on the stage is reused in some way.
“We are reusing platforms that are shipping pallets. We reused paint by just mixing colors. We used old doors and lumber, costumes, low energy and watt light bulbs, and we are doubling the program as a popcorn holder,” said Fiebig.
“One of the coolest things is that the set is 99 percent recycled material,” said Assistant Director of Theatre in the Scene Shop Scott Thompson. “Every piece of wood that we have cut we already had in the shop.”
Thompson also added, “The set itself is complex. It is a combined effort with all of our talents. There wasn’t a lot of build but the set was complex, like the spiral staircase.”
There are a lot of new things that are coming out of this set.
“We are having a working Coke machine on stage that people can get a Coke from. There also will be people walking around selling bread, fruit, and masks. The actors are really interactive,” said Thompson. There also may be hot peanuts being sold at the performances.
“I helped design the two balconies,” said freshman Liz Taylor, who plays Salerio. “Jeremy just threw a few ideas out and I drew it up and he approved of it. One side has a spiral staircase for people to actually walk down and the other just windows that people get to interact with.”
“A set isn’t supposed to look like a set. A play is not just a play. The set is supposed to look like a city. People are busy doing something. The set is colorful. This just isn’t a typical set,” said Taylor.
Freshman Nicole Grisham, who plays the Prince of Morocco, added, “There are a lot of cool things in the set like a hookah bar with pillows on the floor and a staircase that holds like 200 pounds.”
“I am excited for people to walk in and be amazed and say this is really cool. Normally plays you aren’t supposed to talk but this play we want you to laugh, cheer, or cry,” added Thompson.
Fiebig added, “It was important to reuse everything because I am the green committee chair, and I want the theatre to lead by example. We already always reuse but we use a lot of electricity and this is a way we can cut down on our impact. Hopefully we can be a symbol for people to get inspired.”
Tickets are still on sale for the The Merchant of Venice in the box office from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
“There isn’t a bad seat in the house,” said Thompson.
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