The Merchant of Venice
"If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?"
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Every evening (except Sunday) at 7.30pm
Downing College Gardens
In sixteenth-century Venice, Antonio borrows money from Shylock, the Jewish moneylender whom he has publicly humiliated in the past. The loan is to be paid when Antonio’s ships return to the city. But if they should fail, and the money cannot be repaid, then Antonio shall pay a terrible price. In some of his most highly-charged scenes, Shakespeare dramatizes the competing claims of tolerance and intolerance, justice and mercy, whilst in the character of Shylock created the most memorable and tormented of outsiders in all theatre.
No knee-bending to trendy revisionism, but rather a tour-de-force of Elizabethan drama
Tickets for The Merchant of Venice will be available to buy online nearer the festival - please check back soon!