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Show Role of 'Portia' challenge to Margaret Bongiovanni 1 "A I i ' 'I : 1 ttfMHKMliiMfei ' By Dorothy K. See "Oh love, be moderate; allay thy ecstasy, In measure rain thy joy; scant this excess. I feel too much thy blessing; make it less, For fear I surfeit." Its Shakespeare certainly, and surely its the fearful plea of a youthful Juliet, afraid of her-runaway her-runaway emotions. No, its the cry of the middleaged (twenty-three) (twenty-three) woman lawyer, Portia, a victim of her own sentiments. To Margaret Barretta Bongiovanni, Long Beach, California, the role of Portia in Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice" is more than a professional challenge. It is a very personal one since Margaret tried out in an audition for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts when she was 17 years of. age in New York City. "I blew it" the frank Mrs. Bongiovanni says. "I did 'Portia's Mercy speech and did Joanne of Arc from Maxwell Andersons play and I was horrible. I didn't even know why Portia was saying it. I did it on intuition. The gentleman was nice about it. He asked me if I had had coaching on Joanne. I replied 'no, on Portia' " The gentleman dismissed Margaret with a succinct "Pity". Margaret says "I have a horror of Portia's Mercy speech because I had done it so badly but it made me decide to learn more about 'acting and I found there ' was more to it than saying lines. I am trying to make her speech in the context of the show and not a famous set speech that is learned by high school students." Margaret Bongiovanni This is the first Shakespearean Festival for Margaret who is the winner of two American College Theatre Awards, one for her role of "The Wife of Bath" in Chaucers "Canterbury Tales" and for her role of "Freydis" in "HeimSkringla" in 1972. "Portia is exciting", Margaret says now. "I have never played a woman of my own age before. I have never played love scenes before." "I think Portia is the epitome of the ideal woman. She is beautiful, witty, charming, educated and compassionate. Its a hard role because there is so much to Portia. To bring it all out is difficult. You can't play an ideal woman. You have to play the realities of the moment." Margaret, who also plays the roles of "Lucetta" in "Two Gentlemen from Verona" and "The Duchess of York" in "Richard the Second" has only one complaint about her roles in this years Festival "Tight Corsets", she grimaces, "they are very tight". i Shakespearean Hostesses Genevive Gardner Clara Wheelwright Jackie Griffiths |