Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino at the helm
July 30, 2013… Issues of intolerance and the vengeance it provokes lie at the heart
of Shakespeare’s most controversial play, The Merchant of Venice, which begins previews Tuesday, July 30, at the Festival Theatre.
Directed by Artistic Director
Antoni Cimolino, who has already had tremendous success with this season’s sold-out run of
Mary Stuart, this production will be set in Italy in the 1930s.
“My own
parents were children in Italy when the National Fascist Party
introduced its anti-Semitic race laws in 1938,” says Mr. Cimolino. “The
rise of Fascism and Nazism
in that relatively recent era was fuelled by the very same thinking
that Shakespeare probes in
The Merchant of Venice: attitudes toward ‘otherness’ that range
from genteel disdain to racist loathing. And those same attitudes
underlie so many of the terrible conflicts that bedevil our world today.
This play challenges us to search our own consciences
and ask ourselves how far we have really progressed in the centuries
since it was written.”
Having
invested heavily in an overseas trading venture, Antonio, a Venetian
merchant, cannot immediately oblige his friend Bassanio when the latter
asks for a loan to
finance his wooing of Portia, an heiress who lives in Belmont. Antonio
therefore in turn seeks to borrow the necessary funds from Shylock, a
Jewish moneylender whom he has always treated with the utmost contempt.
Shylock grants him the loan – on condition
that, in the event of default, he must forfeit a pound of his flesh.
Antonio learns a hard lesson in loyalty when the revenge-seeking Shylock
comes to collect and he is unable to pay.
Mr.
Cimolino has planned the 2013 season around a cluster of themes, with
several of the plays examining how we reach across our differences to
find our common humanity
with people we have identified as the “other.” In this case, the story
of a despised outsider who seeks horrific vengeance for the abuse to
which he has been subjected makes
The Merchant of Venice a particularly apt choice within this season’s playbill.
“It seems to me that Shakespeare is really trying to understand how we make some people the ‘other,’ ” says Mr. Cimolino. “The Merchant of Venice
doesn’t just warn
us against judging books by their covers; it even goes so far as to
suggest an inverse relationship between essential worth and surface
appeal. From caskets to complexions, appearances ‘entrap the wisest.’
Throughout the play, people are judged by the colour
of their skin, by their nationality and, of course, by their religion.
As one might expect, such discrimination causes great pain; it also
breeds a desire for revenge.”
The cast features
Tom McCamus as Antonio, Scott Wentworth as Shylock, Tyrell Crews as Bassanio,
Sara Farb as Jessica, Michelle Giroux as Portia, Jonathan Goad as Gratiano,
Ron Pederson as Launcelot Gobbo, Tyrone Savage as Lorenzo and Sophia Walker as Nerissa.
The artistic team includes Set Designer
Douglas Paraschuk, Costume Designer Charlotte Dean, Lighting Designer
Robert Thomson, Composer Keith Thomas, Sound Designer Todd Charlton and Fight Director
John Stead.
The Merchant of Venice Forum Highlights
The
Forum, the new festival within the Festival, is a series of activities
and events designed to make a visit to Stratford an immersive,
all-encompassing cultural experience.
Through debates, talks, concerts, comedy nights, hands-on workshops and
more, The Forum offers theatregoers more ways to discover and examine
the themes running through this season’s productions.
The Merchant of Venice will be explored through several Forum events, including:
Shylock Appeals, in which two prominent lawyers argue Shylock’s sentence in front of a panel of judges including
Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of Canada; Geraint Wyn Davies Presents… “Wordplay”: Shylock, in which
Geraint Wyn Davies and members of the company present Shylock, a play by
Arnold Wesker that tells the story of The Merchant of Venice from Shylock’s point of view; and
Who Chooseth Me, in which practising psychoanalyst Mavis Himes speaks with Artistic Director
Antoni Cimolino about the insights psychoanalysis can bring to The Merchant of Venice.
Support
for the inaugural season of The Forum is generously provided by Kelly
and Michael Meighen and the Province of Ontario, in partnership with the
University of Waterloo,
with media sponsorship provided by The Walrus. Support for the Speakers Series is generously provided in memory of Dr. Philip Hayman.
The Merchant of Venice officially opens on August 15 and runs until October 18. For
tickets, contact the box office at 1.800.567.1600 or visit stratfordfestival.ca.
The Merchant of Venice is sponsored by Scotiabank. Production support is generously
provided by Jane Petersen-Burfield & family, Barbara & John Schubert and Catherine & David Wilkes.
The
Festival’s new Toronto bus service Stratford Direct is now available
twice daily on performance days for only $20 return. Reservations can be
made through the box
office.
Support for Stratford Direct is generously provided by The Peter Cundill Foundation.
The Stratford Festival’s 2013 season runs until October 20, featuring
Romeo and Juliet, Fiddler on the Roof, The Three Musketeers,
The Merchant of Venice, Tommy, Blithe Spirit, Othello,
Measure for Measure, Mary Stuart, Waiting for Godot, Taking Shakespeare, and
The Thrill, along with more than 150 events at The Forum.
Cast (in alphabetical order)
Duke of Venice……………………………….. Wayne Best
Prince of Morocco……………………………. Michael Blake
Waiter………………………………………… Skye Brandon
Leonardo……………………………………… Daniel Briere
Stephanie……………………………………… Lally Cadeau
Priest…………………………………………... Shane Carty
Bassanio………………………………………. Tyrell Crews
Portia’s train…………………………………... Nehassaiu deGannes
Old Gobbo…………………………………….. Victor Ertmanis
Jessica…………………………………………. Sara Farb
Portia………………………………………….. Michelle Giroux
Gratiano……………………………………….. Jonathan Goad
Tubal…………………………………………... Robert King
Morocco’s train……………………………….. Andrew Lawrie
Understudy…………………………………….. Roy Lewis
Antonio……………………………………….. Tom McCamus
Launcelot Gobbo……………………………… Ron Pederson
Salerio…………………………………………. Anand Rajaram
Portia’s train…………………………………… Kaitlyn Riordan
Bassanio’s train………………………………... Andrew Robinson
Portia’s train…………………………………… Sabryn Rock
Lorenzo………………………………………... Tyrone Savage
Solanio………………………………………… Steven Sutcliffe
Christian Mum………………………………… Wendy Thatcher
Nerissa………………………………………… Sophia Walker
Shylock………………………………………… Scott Wentworth
Prince of Arragon……………………………… Antoine Yared
Children………………………………………... Maddox Keller, Gabriel Long, Brent McCready-Branch
Artistic Credits
Director………………………………………… Antoni Cimolino
Set Designer……………………………………. Douglas Paraschuk
Costume Designer……………………………… Charlotte Dean
Lighting Designer……………………………… Robert Thomson
Composer………………………………………. Keith Thomas
Sound Designer………………………………… Todd Charlton
Fight Director…………………………………... John Stead
Producer………………………………………… David Auster
Casting Director………………………………… Beth Russell
Creative Planning Director……………………… Jason Miller
Assistant Director……………………………….. Mitchell Cushman
Assistant Set Designer…………………………... Brandon Kleiman
Assistant Costume Designer…………………….. Jennifer Goodman
Assistant Lighting Designer……………………... Sean Poole
Fight Captain……………………………………. Wayne Best
Stage Manager…………………………………. Bona Duncan
Assistant Stage Managers……………………… Bruno Gonsalves, Crystal Skinner, Cynthia Toushan
Production Assistant…………………………… Linsey Callaghan
Production Stage Manager……………………... Margaret Palmer
Technical Director……………………………… Jeff Scollon
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