At the beginning of the rehearsal period one of the exercises Marcello found most useful was an improvisation in which the company created the city of Venice.
Transcript of Podcast
At the beginning of the rehearsal period one of the exercises Marcello found most useful was an improvisation in which the company created the city of Venice. Each person adopted a role and explored what the city might have been like in the 16th Century. They also looked at the possible relationships between the groups that might have existed in that society and the status of women and the Jewish community.
To work on his character Marcello is trying to do as much research as possible, particularly into Venice in the 16th Century and the role of clowns or fools in Shakespeare.
Marcello is a founder member of Theatre de Complicite, which have a tradition of physical theatre, drawing on Commedia dell’ Arte. This experience influences Marcello's approach to creating the role of Gobbo. Marcello is interested in playing Launcelot Gobbo as a hunchback (Gobbo means hunchback), as it would place Gobbo as an outsider in Venice. Marcello feels it might also explain why Launcelot Gobbo is working for Shylock - does Shylock's status as a Jew in Venice mean that Gobbo is the best servant he can get? Marcello has decided that Gobbo has come to Venice from the countryside, in the hope of finding profitable employment and improving his status.
These comments are the actor's thoughts or ideas about the part as s/he goes through the rehearsal process – they are simply his/her own interpretations and frequently change as the rehearsal process progresses.