Merchant of Venice, The

Synopsis: Video recording, using a single, fixed camera, of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 1987 production of The Merchant of Venice. Directed by Bill Alexander with Antony Sher as Shylock.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Video
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Recording date: 6 Aug 1987
Duration: 170 feet

Notes: A second master was recorded 6 August 1987 - understudy copy.
General: Bill Alexander’s production strongly foregrounded the anti-semitic aspects of the play. Sher accentuated the racial traits of Shylock playing him with a heavy accent, shuffling gait, heavily bearded and wearing exotic clothes. David Nathan, writing in the Jewish Chronicle (8 May 1987), described Sher as a ‘lip-smacking, liquid-eyed Levantine bargain hunter’.
History: Press night 29 April 1987
Stills: Stills from, and design notes on, the production are available on the Arts and Humanities Performing Arts Data Service (AHDS) at http://ahds.ac.uk/performingarts/collections/designing-shakespeare.htm
Reviews: Billington, Michael The Guardian (1 May 1987).

Name: Royal Shakespeare Company
Web: https://www.rsc.org.uk External site opens in new window
Address: Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Waterside
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire
CV37 6BB

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