The Merchant of Venice

Academy Award-winner F. Murray Abraham plays Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, directed by Darko Tresnjak. Presented in rotating repertory with TFNA’s The Jew of Malta.

A mysteriously melancholy rich man, a dashing young lover in desperate need of cash, a moneylender with good reason to seek revenge, and a witty young woman with a knack for disguise. These are the elements of Shakespeare’s sparkling and troubling tragicomedy. Set in the magical city of Venice, where all nations meet and the clash of cultures can lead to startling violence, the story of Antonio, Shylock, and Portia has been arousing controversies, social as well as literary, for four centuries with its astonishing mixture of elements: comedy both raucous and gentle, steely-eyed satire, intense compassion, tender love poetry, and the perpetual struggle between Mercy and Justice.

After its New York engagement, The Merchant of Venice will tour to the Royal Shakespeare Company to be presented in its Complete Works Festival.
y of the Charity of Joan of Arc, The Sandman, People Are Wrong, and Dido, Queen of Carthage by Christopher Marlowe.