The Merchant of Venice @ Classic Stage Company

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The Play: The Merchant of Venice; the problematic tale of an anti-semitic merchant whose inability to pay back a loan he took from a Jewish moneylender results in a dramatic trial that hinges on justice, bigotry and mercy

Written by: William Shakespeare        Directed by: Igor Golyak

One good thing: Veteran actor Richard Topol who has done such fine work in so many plays about Jewish oppression finally gets a crack at playing the moneylender Shylock, even if he’s being made to do it while wearing a Groucho mask, a Dracula cape, a blood-soaked shirt and vampire teeth

One not-so-great thing: In an effort to realize his vision of the play as a “comedy,” director Igor Golyak has dragged in every gimmick he could think of— the Groucho mask, an actor on a unicycle, bubble machines, superhero costumes, video projections, rap music and breakdancing, puppets, puppets having oral sex—but he’s unable to find a way to make those things mesh with the innate tragedy of Shylock’s plight in a world intolerant of him simply because he’s a Jew



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