A sparse-set, studied and stark rendition for much of its running time, Tim Carroll's Merchant of Venice risks being branded sterile during the first half.

Almost passionless, the caskets the suitors must choose between are, appropriately, blocks of ice and Georgina Rich's Portia (whose hair is, incidentally, the wrong colour) is so resigned to her fate she seems almost bored by it all.

Neither she nor Arsher Ali's Prince of Morocco seem much concerned by his losing out on her hand, and, indeed, the chance to marry at all and some disembodied hands playing wine glasses up above the stage simply adds to the confusion. The glasses are very much half-full at this point.

Meanwhile, back in Venice the Christians are kitted out in Identikit suits and manage to make sea voyages with disastrous consequences sound like tax returns.

John Paul Conolly's Gratiano desperately tries to warm things up and Jack Laskey's Bassanio is pleasant enough but hardly likely to thaw Portia.

In a debut season-heavy cast, the lines are delivered with a capable clarity, but at the interval a rundown of the characters the audience actually cares about is a brief task.

Then there is the wonderfully striking Angus Wright, and a Shylock played with none of the manipulation or social discomfort possible from the role. Perhaps this is to Carroll's credit.

This weary Shylock is certainly no stereotype, but he is played so straight there is practically no sense of interpretation, more rendition.

There can be little doubt this is all deliberate - perhaps the minimalism focusing attention on the words, perhaps a brave decision to sidestep many of the play's oft-stressed angles and to produce something unusual. Or maybe the play is meant to thaw slowly and, only finally, boil fiercely.

But the result is that there is no threat or malice until Shylock is literally standing over Antonio (the likable enough James Garnon) with a knife.

And then, despite a final flourish of real quality and long-awaited warmth, it is almost too late. Our previously wooden Jessica (Amara Karan) and Lorenzo dally amid mirrored stars in one wonderful late scene. And Portia and Nerissa reveal their new husbands' inconsistency to excellent comic effect.

Finally the temperature is lifted, but with insufficient time left to truly warm the audience.

Tom Sales. Verdict: Cold, and only finds gear late on.