fbpx

The Merchant of Venice

Bossanio asks the Jewish moneylender, Shylock, for a loan to help him court the wealthy Portia, and does so on behalf of the antisemetic merchant, Antonio. Shylock agrees to the loan, but if within three months the loan hasn’t been paid, Shylock demands a pound of Antonio’s flesh. A story about love, wealth, and revenge, can Bossanio and Portia save Antonio from his fate?

Icons-Merchant of Venice-white

Play On Shakespeare > Comedy > The Merchant of Venice

At a Glance

Tragicomedy • Classical Setting • Disguise

Productions, Readings & Workshops

Merchant of Venice Workshop

July 2021 | Workshop | Cara Mia Theatre
Continue reading…

This translation has not yet been produced!

Interested in producing this play?

Request a Perusal Script

Paperback & eBooks

The Merchant of Venice

By William Shakespeare
Translation by Elise Thoron

An updated version of The Merchant of Venice that speaks to our contemporary reckoning with racism and injustice. ​

Elise Thoron’s translation of Shakespeare’s searing The Merchant of Venice cuts straight to the heart of today’s fraught issues of social justice and systemic racism. Thoron’s clear, compelling contemporary verse translation retains the power of the original iambic pentameter while allowing readers and audiences to fully comprehend and directly experience the brutal dilemmas of Shakespeare’s Venice, where prejudice and privilege reign unchallenged. As the author of three acclaimed music-theater works on the Jewish experience and informed by her work directing cross-cultural projects in locations as different as Russia, Japan, Cuba, and New York City, Thoron brings to her Merchant an immediacy that speaks directly to the present reckoning with race in America.

Buy Now from ACMRS Press

Production History

Jan 17, 2017

Translation Workshop

Workshop with full cast in NYC.

June 5, 2019

Play On! Festival NYC

Rehearsal and Staged Reading directed by Estefania Fadul with full cast as part of the Play On! Translation Festival in NYC.

Produced by:
Play On! / Classic Stage / Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Check out more comedies!

All’s Well That Ends Well

Helena will go to any length to ensure that Bertram falls in love with her. But how far is too far?

As You Like It

One of Shakespeare’s most popular pastoral romances, As You Like It is a series of mistaken identities between lovers and friends in the Forest of Arden.

The Comedy of Errors

One of Shakespeare’s most popular pastoral romances, As You Like It is a series of mistaken identities between lovers and friends in the Forest of Arden.

Cymbeline

Tragically separated after the discovery of their secret marriage, Imogen and Leonatus find themselves in quite the dilemma full of marriage plots and lies.

Love’s Labour’s Lost

Four men forswear women… that is, until they have to host a princess and three of her women. But will the women return their love?

Measure for Measure

Newly appointed deputy to rule Vienna, Lord Angelo enforces tyrannical law against immorality in the city. After convicting Claudio with the death sentence for premarital sex, his sister Isabella seeks out Angelo to beg for mercy. But at what cost will she go to save her brother?

The Merry Wives of Windsor

Falstaff finds himself in a predicament of financial troubles. His resolve? He seduces the wives of two wealthy merchants in hopes to better his financial standing. However, these witty women discover his plot, and they plan their own hilarious revenge.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Four Athenians run away into the forest after Hermia’s father, Duke Theseus, rejects marriage prospects between his daughter and her love, Lysander. And in the forest, Oberon, King of the Fairies, tries to fix the four broken hearts – accidentally resulting in disaster.

Much Ado About Nothing

For some, love begins at first sight. For others, love has been forsworn. Much Ado About Nothing follows the story of two men: Claudio, who fights for his love for Hero, and Benedick, who has forsworn women until his friends make him believe that he has caught the eye of Lady Beatrice.

Pericles

Pericles, Prince of Tyre follows the journeys of the heroic figure, Pericles, as he searches for those he loves.

The Taming of the Shrew

Katherina must marry before her sister Bianca. But her lack of interest in marriage does not stop Petruccio from pursuing, and eventually winning, her hand. This complicated play displays Katherina’s impeccable wit and Petruccio’s manipulative nature as he attempts to shape her into an obedient wife.

The Tempest

In an attempt to wreak revenge upon his brother, Antonio, and the King of Naples, Prospero uses magic to conjure a storm to wreck the nobles’ ship on his island where Prospero lives with his daughter, Miranda. But while Prospero focuses on his own revenge plot, an unexpected love story begins to take place between Miranda and the king’s son Ferdinand.

Twelfth Night

As war rages around them, Trojan prince Troilus falls in love with the beautiful Cressida. But after she is traded to the Greek camp and agrees to be with another man, Troilus witnesses her unfaithfulness and vows to focus his efforts into winning the war.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

When two best friends fall in love with the same woman, chaos ensues. Proteus is determined to destroy the betrothal of his friend, Valentine, and the lovely Silvia, but he also forgets his own beloved Julia in the midst. Resolved to win back his love, Julia travels to Milan to find Proteus. 

The Winter’s Tale

Artists Productions Podcast Publication Timeline Related Posts At a Glance Artists Playwright Dramaturg Productions, Readings & Workshops Paperback & eBooks The Winter’s Tale By William Shakespeare Translation by Tracy Young Tracy Young offers a new version of Shakespeare’s difficult tale…