In this ‘Merchant of Venice,’ tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight
Igor Golyak’s production brings the show back to a comedic mode the way Shakespeare intended — to make a point about antisemitism
Merchant of Venice
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In May 1943, at Vienna’s Burg theater, the Nazi party staged its most famous production of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.” It starred Werner Krauss, a man so anti-Semitic that he is said to have asked Joseph Goebbels to make a public announcement clarifying that he was not Jewish, but rather habitually played Jewish caricatures…
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Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner recommended in a visit last week to an elementary school in the shanty town of Lugano that the students read “The Merchant of Venice,” with its anti-Semitic portrayal of a vengeful Jewish moneylender, to understand Argentina’s economic troubles. Following the visit, the president continued to tweet the recommendation, appearing to try…
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