Theatre REVIEW: The Merchant of Venice

The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh presents the Theatre for a New Audience production of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, featuring John Douglas Thompson as Shylock, directed by Arin Arbus.

Shakespeare’s perennially contested play about corrosive bigotry and blinding vengeance is poised at the radioactive intersection of race, class and religion in Arin Arbus’s production.

As Arbus observes, “The Merchant of Venice depicts a divided society saturated with hate and inequity. The world boils with anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, misogyny, classism, and homophobia. This production is set in an American city in the near future.”

The show’s uniquely diverse company evoke the deeply stratified Venice of Shakespeare's play. Its connections to our own grievously fractured world are vivid, stark and startling.

Where?

Lyceum Edinburgh - until 15th February

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MIX UP REVIEWS:

Ailie (Age 15 ) - ★★★★

"The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare's "comedies". There is a divide between the characters of Shylock, who is Jewish, and Antonio, who is Christian, as they are business rivals. The play includes discrimination against Shylock for being Jewish, which made me feel emotional. The thing I liked most about this production was how the actors used movement to help the audience understand what was happening, especially how the actors used the whole stage. Another feature I liked was the set for this play as it was very basic; a grey wall with doors and steps. This meant you could just focus on the performance and not get distracted by the set. The only thing I didn't like as much was that it was really long and as it's Shakespeare you have to concentrate for the whole time otherwise you miss things. I would rate this performance 4 stars as I thoroughly enjoyed it."