The Merchant of Venice (RSC/Live from Stratford) @ The Broadway, Nottingham
July 23, 2015
Last night’s broadcast of The Merchant of Venice was one of the more fraught of the RSC Live from Stratford-upon-Avon screenings so far. Perhaps it was the reflective glitter of the golden mirrored wall that towered over the set, but the picture quality was much fuzzier than I’ve seen it for any live broadcast so …
The Merchant of Venice (Habima) @ Shakespeare’s Globe. Part 2: The Production
May 29, 2012
Follow-up to The Merchant of Venice (Habima) @ Shakespeare’s Globe. Part 1: Outer Frame from The Bardathon It’s impossible to divorce context from production. Immediately after Dromgoole left the stage, still being applauded for his pre-emptive shutting down of protests, the actors of Habima emerged onto the Globe stage and called for a welcome, whipping …
The Merchant of Venice (Habima) @ Shakespeare’s Globe. Part 1: Outer Frame
Reviewing an event such as this evening’s performance at the Globe of The Merchant of Venice by Habima (Israel’s national theatre) poses serious ethical questions. If the review focuses on the entire experience – the preliminaries, the tensions, the various kinds of performance taking place both outside and within the auditorium – then the production …
The Merchant of Venice (RSC) @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
May 27, 2011
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/merchant/ Rupert Goold’s new production of The Merchant of Venice for the RSC has already caused something of a stir in the press, dividing critics and audiences alike. Despite the presence of a star name in Patrick Stewart in the cast, this was not the traditional Merchant that many may have …
Bond (Taiwan BangZi Opera) @ The Hyatt Regency, Bellevue
April 11, 2011
You’ll notice that Bellevue is off my normal reviewing route. While attending the annual meeting of the Shakespeare Association of America just outside Seattle this week, I took the opportunity to catch a special performance by the extremely prestigious Taiwan Banzi Opera Company of Bond, its retelling of The Merchant of Venice. The scheduling of …
The Merchant of Venice (Propeller) @ Liverpool Playhouse
January 31, 2009
After some rather poor Shakespeare at the end of 2008, I have to say that it’s a relief and a pleasure to begin 2009 in the company of Propeller and their thoroughly interesting Merchant of Venice. It’s been a couple of years since I was wowed by their Shrew in Stratford, and happily Edward Hall …
The Merchant of Venice (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
April 11, 2008
The Merchant of Venice has long been one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. I love the fact that the play can so easily and excitingly be used to confront so many issues: anti-Semitism, homosexuality, gender oppression, racism, child abuse and more have all been dealt with in productions I’ve seen. It’s also one of the very …
The Merchant Of Venice @ Shakespeare’s Globe
August 12, 2007
The Merchant Of Venice is in trouble. In all the version I’ve seen of it on stage and screen, this “comedy” has become a very serious play, with one issue- Shylock. The Jew. The events of the early 20th century have unbalanced the play, drawing on the discussion of anti-semitism to turn this into the …
The Merchant Of Venice (Theatre for a New Audience) @ The Swan Theatre
March 29, 2007
The ‘lasts’ are coming thick and fast. Gregory Doran, according to reports from his creative team talk, was frustrated at the focus on the ‘lastness’ of his production, it being the final play to be performed in the RST before its closure. Tonight, there were three more lasts. The last visiting (and international) company, the …
F.Murray Abraham talk @ The Swan Gallery
Firstly, I want to say that F. Murray Abraham is one of the nicest ‘famous’ people I’ve ever met. In a pre-event chat with my supervisor and an RSC events manager, he still insisted on bringing me into the conversation, asking me my opinions and generally welcoming me into a discussion I wasn’t even sure …
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