The Merchant of Venice

T01666523909
Shylock is a proud and defiant man. But when he demands a severe debt to be repaid he becomes a victim of his own intransigence and most seriously, the prejudice of others.

Author

Shakespeare

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Archive :: production:T01666523909, play:S01680904621, venue:V256483315
Current production:Work

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Production details

It is London in 1936 - fascism is sweeping across Europe, and Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists is threatening to march through the Jewish East End. Shylock (Tracy Ann Oberman - Eastenders, Doctor Who, Friday Night Dinner) is a survivor of anti-Semitic pogroms in Russia. A widow, she runs a small business from her dark and cramped terraced house in Cable Street, hoping to give daughter Jessica a better future. When aristocratic anti-semite Antonio desperately needs a loan, he makes a dangerous bargain with this woman he has spat on in the street. Will Shylock, bitter from a life plagued by racism and abuse, take her revenge? A vivid evocation of our history, and a warning for our times.