Merchant of Venice
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed & Adapted by Igor Golyak
Classic Stage Company
December 22, 2024
Production website
💉 out of 5.

This was just a horrible night in the theatre and it was made even more horrible in that just a few months prior to this production it was this very same director (Igor Golyak) and same company of players (Arlekin Players) that turned in for me what was the finest piece of theatre of the entire year, Our Class.  I thought that since both pieces deal the plight of the Jews and anti-Semitism, I was going to be in for a real treat seeing this fresh take on The Merchant of Venice which has long been regarded as one of Shakespeare’s so-called “problem” plays.  Classically, it is called a “problem” play in that it’s both a comedy and tragedy; and the villain, the Jew, Shylock, is portrayed with the worst anti-semitic tropes. But the “problem” in this HORRIBLE  adaptation is far more basic than anything cited by scholars. The messaging is muddied, and almost every line of the Bard’s text is just an excuse to do stupid stuff!