The Merchant of Venice

From the moment that Marianne Macnaghten launched the Waterfront Theatre Company as the latest addition to Macnaghten Productions Limited, she voiced her determination that its first production would be traditional and free of gimmicks. Thus, this Merchant is clear, uncut, lavishly designed, beautifully costumed, carefully cast, conscientiously delivered but, alas, not terribly interesting.

Micaela Soar's picture-book set allows the central image of the Rialto Bridge to be obscured at the swish of a curtain, thereby transporting us to leafy Belmont, to a Venetian street, to Padua, to the interior of the courtroom. But beyond its immediate prettiness, it gives no hint of the nature of these changing worlds.

John Riddell's mellow lighting would be helped immeasurably by an atmospheric soundtrack. As it is, there is no sense of the city's hustle and bustle, the political and cultural conflicts within the hotbed of races that inhabited Venice at that time. Young audiences will have no difficulty in grasping the central storyline, but they are given few hints of the crucial underlying issues, which make this one of Shakespeare's most intriguing plays.

Among the cast, Richard Croxford's Antonio, Matt Andrews's Bassanio, Laine Megaw's coquettish Portia and Rachel O'Riordan's bouncy Nerissa stand out, while Martin Wimbush's Shylock is so low-key as to be almost inaudible at times. One scene, however, underlines Shylock's isolation and alienation - his brief encounter with his old friend, the Jew Tubal (Graham Ashe). This well-intentioned production needs more moments like that.

The Merchant of Venice continues at the Waterfront Hall until Saturday, then tours to the Rialto in Derry (March 21st and 22nd), Hawk's Well Theatre, Sligo (March 24th, 25th), Mullingar Arts Centre (March 28th, 29th), Theatre Royal, Water- ford (March 30th, 31st) and Everyman Palace Theatre, Cork ((April 4th-8th)