The Merchant of Venice begins previews at the Stratford Festival

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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