Saul Rubinek is making a long-anticipated return to the stage in the New York premiere of Playing Shylock at Polonsky Shakespeare Center, home of Theatre for a New Audience. Playing Shylock promises to be one o…

Saul Rubinek long has wanted to play Shylock, a role that his father, a Yiddish actor and Holocaust survivor, never got a chance to play. But now that he has finally gotten to star in “The Merchant of Venice,…

★★★★☆ Saul Rubinek plays himself in Mark Leiren-Young's one-person play about a shut-down production of "The Merchant of Venice." The post Playing Shylock: A Meta Exploration of Cancel Culture appeare…

Saul Rubinek dazzles and delights during this clever and moving autobiographical solo show about a cancelled production of "The Merchant of Venice." The post Playing Shylock appeared first on Theaterscene.org.

A pensive Al Pacino, circa the 1970’s, his most defined decade as an actor.April 25, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler I’ve written about him before, but there’s always time to reflect o…

VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED ON SS ELSINORE Last time the ever-inventive Rupert Goold directed here it was the Merchant of Venice,  set in a casino so we could all write “merchant of Vegas” jokes.  This time i…

Royal Lyceum, EdinburghJohn Douglas Thompson is a commanding Shylock in a vision of an apparently benign city where tolerance buckles all too quickly He likes a bit of a laugh, this Shylock. Played with cool a…

Tracy-Ann Oberman talks about playing the first female Shylock (who she based on her great grandmother!) and the return to the West End of her acclaimed Shakespeare adaptation, The Merchant of Venice 1936. The…

Tracy-Ann Oberman talks about the return to the West End of her acclaimed Shakespeare adaptation, The Merchant of Venice 1936, and playing the first female Shylock. The London Theatre Review is a new podcast p…

Artist Linda Fennimore’s poster design for “Tru,” starring Robert Morse (1989).December 25, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler. It’s odd that I hold one Christmas memory that is like no…

Portia, Act 5, Scene 1 of “The Merchant of Venice” 

Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” is considered a ‘problem’ play with its ambiguous tone, shifting from humor to dark elements in the person of one of the central characters, the Jewish Shylock. …

Theater Pizzazz’s Meredith Heyman in interview with Alexandra Silber, currently playing Portia in The Merchant of Venice. The post Video – Backstage Access with Meredith Heyman: “The Merchant: Interview w…

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE written by William Shakespeare adapted & directed by Igor Golyak for Arlekin Theatre Company at the Classic Stage Company Theatre Reviewed by David Spencer I suppose it’s not unknow…

Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about The Merchant of Venice @ Classic Stage Company, SHIT. MEET. FAN. @ MCC Theater, Room 1214 @ 59e59, Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now @ New World Stages,…

There is much rewriting and updating plus uncalled for interpolation like speeches from 'Romeo and Juliet" for Jessica and one of Shakespeare’s sonnets (“My Mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun") as a …

Shakespeare is so revered today because his work is so universal, transcending eras as it speaks of the human condition. And we absolutely need to be spoken to. This adaptation is both entertaining and poignant…

The Merchant of Venice, directed and adapted by Igor Golyak (Our Class; The Orchard), opens tonight, Monday, November 25 for a limited engagement at The Lynn F. Angelson Theater, Classic Stage Company (136…

Ambition, power and political unrest explode onto the stage in The Merchant Of Venice 1936, direct from the RSC. Starring Tracy-Ann Oberman (Eastenders, Doctor Who) as Shylock, Shakespeare’s classic is transp…

Video by Magda Katz… Here’s a sneak peek of the cast and performance of the “The Merchant of Venice”, currently playing at the Arlekin Players Theater, NYC. https://www.merchantofveniceplay.com The post…

Christian Borle in My Life in the Theatre. Playbill•66K views · 9:17 · Go to channel. Globe Theatre: Performance during Shakespeare's time. Harvard ...

The cast and creative team of The Merchant of Venice, directed and adapted by Igor Golyak, are getting ready for performances at The Lynn F. Angelson Theater. Check out photos from inside rehearsals!

Luke Brady will play the title role in Disney's Hercules in London’s West End. The stage musical based on the 1997 animated film begins performances at Theatre Royal Drury Lane on June 6, 2025 with an officia…

  Mike Roche credits include In Uniform (dir. Joan Kane w/ Nylon Fusion Theatre Company), Arthur Miller's The Hook (Brave New World Rep dir. Claire Beckman adapted by Ron Hutchinson), Night Over Taos (INTAR…

It somehow slipped my mind that Tuesday night was the opening night for CSC’s presentation of Our Class, the searing saga of a group of Poles and Jews who grew up together in a rural Polish town only to have …

Tracking the Changes of My Life Via a Survey of Constantly Changing Communicating Tools By Elyse Sommer My first writing tool was a fountain pen and the "platform" on which my scribblings landed was a sheet of …

  MUSIC  LESS  MELODIC--   PLAYS  SHORTER-- SOLO  GAIND  PRESTIGE--  MY  WEBSITE  REW  AND  ADDED  REVIEWS  FROK  ALL  OVER--  nd   noq  ewriremw  = reflect  oh  as  you  get  older…

After its sold-out run at Brooklyn Academy of Music in winter 2024, the off-Broadway production Our Class, by Polish playwright Tadeusz Slobodzianek, will transfer to Classic Stage Company’s Lynn F. Angelson …

From BroadwayWorld's Archive: The Royal Shakespeare Company's acclaimed production of Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE will play in select movie houses across North America, beginning August 19. The product…

The New York premiere cast of Our Class will reunite for the limited transfer engagement, with several to star in The Merchant of Venice as well.

Although security has been increased at London's Criterion Theatre, The Merchant of Venice star Tracy-Ann Oberman was still asked not to leave the venue following a performance due to pro-Palestine rallies, …

The rise of fascism in the 1930s East End is given a human face Hot on the heels of Brigid Larmour’s updating of The Merchant of Venice to the East End in 1936, a spirited new musical across town at Southwar…

Southwark Playhouse, LondonFraming the battle within a 1930s romance and a 2024 walking tour, Adam Lenson’s production has big ballads, hip-hop-ish commentary and high camp Headline political tensions give de…

Tracy-Ann Oberman turns Shylock into a heroic Jewish anti-fascist It’s an unhappy time to be staging Shakespeare’s problematic play, given its antisemitic content, so hats off to adaptor-director Brigid Lar…

The final day of the Folger Theatre’s Reading Room Festival proved as plucky and spirited as ever. At the center of this Shakespeare-filled Sunday was a staged reading of “Everything That Never Happened” …

Ambition, power and political unrest explode onto the stage in The Merchant Of Venice 1936, direct from the RSC. Starring Tracy-Ann Oberman (Eastenders, Doctor Who) as Shylock, Shakespeare’s classic is transp…

Land of Idiots By Steven Leigh Morris There’s almost nobody I’ve spoken with who doesn’t anticipate 2024 with dread. The most optimistic assessment is that we’ll be lucky if we can make it through ne…

Critics review Dustin Hoffman in The Merchant of Venice

L-R: Front Chloe Taylor, Rob Elk, Andrea Hutchman; Rear: Pat Towne, Johanna McKay, Judy Heneghan, Mark Fite, Joe Keyes, and Peter Breitmayer at door. (Photo by Louisa Gauerke) A Display of Pointless Lunacy …

ECHOES OF DARKNESS     Jews gather, laughing and chattering, offering a toast as they run down the aisles to settle downstage for a Passover meal with candles, prayers and the ancient question “why is this …

Melbourne Shakespeare Company will return to the Rose Garden this December, revitalising one of Shakespeare’s rarely produced comedies; The Merchant

The touring production of “The Merchant of Venice 1936” has been targeted by antisemites, its star revealed. Tracy-Ann Oberman, who has starred in “Doctor Who” and “Friday Night Dinner,” says the to…

The photographs below offer a small sample of the many Jewish characters that have been portrayed in plays and musicals on Broadway, focusing on the most familiar and the most recent.  The first known Jewish c…

The world premiere of Edward Einhorn's retelling of The Merchant of Venice is currently running at the New Ohio Theatre.

Is “The Merchant of Venice” antisemitic? Was Shakespeare?  “The Shylock and the Shakespeareans,” playwright and director Edward Einhorn’s retelling of the Bard’s long-controversial play, shuts dow…

Having seen (read “been positively blown away by”) several of Edward Einhorn’s previous shows produced through Untitled Theater Company No. 61, and being a long-time lover of Shakespeare, I was all in fo…

The post The Merchant of Venice (Annotated) appeared first on STAGE RAW - ARTS IN L.A. - SERVED FRESH.

These honors recognize how individual artists and productions were affectionately remembered by individuals belonging to our team of generationally, ethnically and gender-diverse writers. The post Spite!: “T…

Love London Love Culture’s Emma Clarendon discovers what critics have been saying about Brigid Larmour and Tracy-Ann Oberman’s new production of The Merchant of Venice 1936, currently on tour.

Watford Palace theatreA striking, slick adaptation of Shakespeare’s problematic play sees Tracy-Ann Oberman play a Jewish matriarch up against the fascists of 1930s London In Tracy-Ann Oberman and Brigid Lar…

The actor talks to Sarah Crompton about setting ‘The Merchant of Venice’ at the time of Oswald Mosley’s fascists, and her thoughts on trigger warnings

Tracy-Ann Oberman’s Shylock, who has been relocated to 1930s Britain, is inspired by her tough great grandma – while Henry Goodman felt shame after losing himself in Shakespeare’s most notorious character…

Oberman will star as Shylock in Brigid Larmour's adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy.

The Merchant of Venice 1936 among four plays to feature at RSC’s reopened Swan theatre this summer A new take on Shakespeare’s controversial play The Merchant of Venice, set in London’s East End in the 19…

‘A Little Life’ comes to the stage, Sheridan Smith and Lily Allen return to the West End, and ‘The Merchant of Venice’ is transported to 1930s Cable Street – we bring you our guide to 2023’s most e…

The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) will present AAFCA Salutes Broadway. The event will honor The Merchant of Venice and Till star John Douglas Thompson, Topdog/Underdog writer Suzan-Lori Park…

Complete casting has been announced for the previously reported return of the Tony-winning Broadway revival of Take Me Out. This revival of Richard Greenberg's 2002 play, directed by Scott Ellis, will begin per…

Why waiting outdoors for hours for free tickets is always on my family's calendar --- At 6 a.m. on a recent July morning by Central Park's Delacorte Theater, a woman smiled as my family took our place behind he…

Darius Daughtry and Grace Arts Center reimagine The Merchant of Venice in 1940s Fort Lauderdale to examine tensions when when infighting exists within the African American community. The post The Merchant of Ve…

Clyde's, Company and SIX win four awards each --- Talk about spreading the love! No one production dominated the 2022 Drama Desk Awards, which honor shows on Broadway and beyond in NYC. The Broadway productions…

Theatre's return season has been triumphant and rocky. Because of COVID-19, schedules are constantly changing, not just for individual productions but for theatre awards, too. Traditionally, the Drama Desk nomi…

Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about Suffs @ The Public Theater, To My Girls @ Second Stage, for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, Manhattan Theat…

The Merchant of Venice is seen as a problematic play but, increasingly, it seems that the problems are with us, as much as they are with Shakespeare.

Shakespeare Theatre Company stages "The Merchant of Venice" with John Douglas Thompson as Shylock.

When Shakespeare wrote “The Merchant of Venice,” it was done as comedy and the hero and heroine did not die—that was the differentiation at the time between a comedy and tragedy. Comedies like “Much Ado…

Abigail Graham's pacy production focuses on the moneylender's fate A supposed 'comedy' gives the moneylender Shylock pride of place The Merchant of Venice is a comedy, you say? Shakespeare, as ever, refuses to…

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonAbigail Graham trims and reshuffle’s Shakespeare’s play with glitzy gameshow scenes and a brutal, lonely reckoning A stained, lidless plastic container rests on electric weigh…

New productions of “The Merchant of Venice” and “Black No More” aim to reflect our current racial politics. The results are uneven.

By JK Clarke Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA) has taken a bold step in its new production of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. But not for the expected reason (casting a black actor, John Dougla…

Director Arin Arbus digs into Shakespeare's play to show us, anew, what's been there all along. Patrick Maley reviews. The post Review: The Merchant of Venice at Theatre for a New Audience appeared first on Ex…

We think that The Merchant of Venice was written between 1596 and 1599 – in the twilight years of Elizabeth’s reign. It was printed in 1600 and so had, one assumes, already been performed by then.

Arin Arbus, resident director at Theatre for a New Audience, staging her tenth classic for them took a great risk with her new production of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice: not only putting this 1597 pl…

★★★★✩ John Douglas Thompson brings a steadfast gaze and spine of steel to the much-maligned Shylock The post The Merchant of Venice: A Too-Timely Production of Shakespeare’s Problem Play appeared fi…

★★★★☆ Arin Arbus directs a cast in which some act flashily and some put too much flash in their acting The post The Merchant of Venice: John Douglas Thompson’s Shylock Takes the Town appeared first…

Portia: hero or villain?