“All that glisters is not gold, often you have heard that told”
The international touring Compass Theatre Company’s new production is a stunning staging of one of Shakespeare’s most challenging and provocative plays, a powerful tale of menace, money and mercy.
The Christians, dominant and succesful, stand together against Shylock, a moneylender and outsider, who seeks jutice for the loss of his daughter and the misery he has endured. He contacts a man to pledge his very heart against a loan of money, but, as he stand poised to extract his revenge in a breathtakingly dramatic trail scene, Portia makes a plea for a kinda justice, a justice with mercy.
With broad flashes of humour and elements of fairy tale mixed with darker and more brutal elements in subtly changing scenes, The Merchant of Venice is an outstanding addition to Compass’ succesful run of the major Shakespeare plays and modern classic theatre.
“At last. A really open eyed, nasty production of The Merchant… what an intelligent performance this is… Neil Sissons’ inventive, cogent direction makes each scene seem new… Brilliant redaings… an evening full of both laughter and reflection.” South China Morning Post.