Illuminating the motives of racism when adapting and directing The Merchant of Venice

Abstract

Based on my own experience of adapting and directing The Merchant of Venice, I discuss the challenges and responsibilities of portraying the Jewish characters, Shylock and Jessica in a twenty-first century production. Blending theory and practice, the rehearsal process and results in performance are expounded to provide a detailed account of how the context affects the practice and outcomes. Moreover, the motivations, intentions and distortions within the intricacies of interactions between characters is described and discussed to explore the myth of Jewish stereotypes.

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

2022

Volume

18

Issue

1

Publication Title

Shakespeare

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

School

School of Arts and Humanities / Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA)

RAS ID

40343

Comments

Eyre, L. (2022). Illuminating the motives of racism when adapting and directing the merchant of Venice. Shakespeare, vol 18, no. 1, p.120-138.

https://doi.org/10.1080/17450918.2021.1990992

Copyright

subscription content

First Page

120

Last Page

138

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1080/17450918.2021.1990992