The Merchant of Venice

The Drilling Company performs free outdoor Shakespeare in the Parking Lot behind The Clemente (Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center), located at 114 Norfolk Street, just three blocks from the municipal parking lot where the plucky New York cultural attraction started 21 years ago.

One of Shakespeare's most problematic works makes its Shakespeare in the Parking Lot debut when Ezra Barnes directs "The Merchant of Venice."

In the play, Renaissance motifs of masculine friendship and romantic love are portrayed in contrast to the bitter inhumanity of the moneylender Shylock, whose misfortunes--as a victim of blatant anti-Semitism--are presented so as to arouse understanding and sympathy. The judgment of Shylock as victim or villain confounds, as does the near-impossibility of handling the play's issues in the form of a romantic comedy. It is a challenge that only Shakespeare could have brought off, and he does so masterfully, creating two of his most fascinating characters in Shylock the moneylender (to be played by David Marantz) and Portia the heiress (to be played by Jane Bradley).

To emphasize these themes' modern relevance, a contemporary setting has been chosen. Venice is re-imagined as the modern Lower East Side, where Yuppie speculators and fast-track financial magnates live and work along side a wide variety of Jewish businessmen. With the mercantile zeal of the money-smitten, everybody hates and suspects each other, as they have in commercial capitals since the beginning of time. Belmont, where Portia lives, is like the Upper East Side. Shylock and Antonio have known each other since childhood, growing up cheek by jowel in a bustling city doing business. And so a timeless story begins...

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
THURSDAY thru SATURDAY @ 8 PM