this play is so conflicting because i really disliked it while i was reading it, but this production was so thought provoking? i love my english professor for showing me this. the way this was staged (the set, costuming, etc) was so modern and although it felt a bit on the nose and flat at times, overall pretty interesting and fit within the context of the play pretty well. it was too on the nose with the costuming (the nicer the clothes, the higher the character’s rank within venetian society) but i still think it worked.now, the acting. my god. shylock’s monologue and the potrayal of his character overall was absolutely devastating, and the iconic monologue was delivered so well and it was so moving and touching and unfortunately still all too relevant. i hated antonio’s character but the actor in this production played him in such a heart-wrenching way i was absolutely floored. his sadness about his relationship with bassanio was palpable, and although i didn’t want to feel sympathetic towards him, his cries for help in the trial scene quite literally moved me to tears. it was amazing and the actors in this production honestly made me like the show? or this production at least loloverall, this play is still really hard to stomach and i agree that it should probably be laid to rest among some of shakespeare’s other plays like the taming of the shrew. however, the reframing of the play as a tragedy rather than a comedy that this production displayed worked really well especially because this play could absolutely NOT be performed as a comedy today. overall, pretty solid production but the actors understanding their characters and the way they should be portrayed in today’s context really made it special.

this play is so conflicting because i really disliked it while i was reading it, but this production was so thought provoking? i love my english professor for showing me this. the way this was staged (the set, costuming, etc) was so modern and although it felt a bit on the nose and flat at times, overall pretty interesting and fit within the context of the play pretty well. it was too on the nose with the costuming (the nicer the clothes, the higher the character’s rank within venetian society) but i still think it worked.now, the acting. my god. shylock’s monologue and the potrayal of his character overall was absolutely devastating, and the iconic monologue was delivered so well and it was so moving and touching and unfortunately still all too relevant. i hated antonio’s character but the actor in this production played him in such a heart-wrenching way i was absolutely floored. his sadness about his relationship with bassanio was palpable, and although i didn’t want to feel sympathetic towards him, his cries for help in the trial scene quite literally moved me to tears. it was amazing and the actors in this production honestly made me like the show? or this production at least loloverall, this play is still really hard to stomach and i agree that it should probably be laid to rest among some of shakespeare’s other plays like the taming of the shrew. however, the reframing of the play as a tragedy rather than a comedy that this production displayed worked really well especially because this play could absolutely NOT be performed as a comedy today. overall, pretty solid production but the actors understanding their characters and the way they should be portrayed in today’s context really made it special.