Quality of Mercy, The

Synopsis: Detective series. In this episode Lewis and Hathaway investigate the murder of a young actor during a preview of an open-air student production of The Merchant of Venice. A quotation from Hamlet is found by his side. There are brief rehearsal scenes ("Shylock - not too Jewish, when we’re doing ‘The Fiddler on the Roof’ we’ll let you know") and scenes from the play itself including Shylock’s ‘I am a Jew’ speech (III i), Portia’s ‘The Quality of mercy is not strained’ speech (IV i) and her song ‘Tell me where is fancy bred’ (III ii). A second murder is committed - this time a quotation from A Midsummer Night’s Dream is found by the body. Lewis proclaims ‘I’m getting sick of bloody Shakespeare’.
Series: Lewis
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Television
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Transmission details: 15 Mar 2009 at 20:00 (Channel: ITV1)
Duration: 120 mins

Director

Billie Eltringham

Producer

Cinematographer

Writer

Music

Cast

Production type: Television and Radio Drama
Historical period: Renaissance Italy
Plays: Merchant of Venice, The
Subjects: Drama
Keywords: Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Rehearsals; Mystery; Open-air theatre; Student productions

SHAKESPEARE