Speakeysie News Desk

LadyShakes 

The Merchant of Venice 

Directed by Kati Grace Kirby

$20 General Admission Preview Thursday March 7, 2024

$24 General Admission Preview Friday March 8, 2024

Runs March 9-30, 2024

Hatred, vengeance and fear of the unknown “other.” 

Shylock, the Jewish moneylender and one of Shakespeare’s most controversial characters of all time, Antonio, and Portia face off in this complicated and harrowing “comedy” that has challenged artists and audiences for centuries.  

 Join us for a post show Q&A on Sunday March 10, 2024

Dramatis Personae

Shylock- Rivka Levin

Antonio- Mary Ruth Ralston

Portia- Tyra Watkins 

Bassanio- Amanda Lindsey McDonald

Gratiano- Cameryn Richardson

Nerissa- Gabi Anderson

Jessica- Anna Holland

Launcelot Gobbo & Portia’s Lady in Waiting- Olivia Schaperjohn

   Prince of Morocco, Jailer – Nidalas Madden

   Duke of Venice, Morocco Attendant, Antonio Servant – Laila Sokera Henderson

Prince of Aragon, Lorenzo, Bassanio Servant, Balthasar, Stephano- Alejandra Ruiz

Salerino- Sarah Hack 

Salanio- Sarah Elaine

Tubal- Julia Barton

The Merchant of Venice Synopsis

By Rivka Levin

Edits by Kati Grace Kirby

Antonio, a prosperous merchant in Venice, is troubled for reasons that his friends cannot discover.  When Antonio is alone with his closest friend, Bassanio, he finds out that Bassanio has decided to try to marry Portia, the heiress of Belmont. However, she has many wealthy and noble suitors, and he lacks the funds to make a good showing. He asks Antonio, who has lent him money many times before, for help. But Antonio’s present wealth is tied up in numerous merchant ships he has abroad, and he cannot furnish Bassanio with the money.

Bassanio then turns to Shylock, a Jewish moneylender (the only profession Jews were permitted to hold in Italy at that time), using Antonio’s speculative wealth as collateral. Shylock is willing to undertake the loan, but asks to speak to Antonio first. Shylock expresses surprise that they would come specifically to him for money, since not only has Antonio often berated him in public over his profession, but has spat upon him, called him “dog”, and has in other ways bullied and abused him because of his religion. Although there is an “ancient grudge” between them, to “buy [Antonio’s] favor”, Shylock extends an olive branch: he offers to lend the money without taking any interest. Instead, he offers to draft a “merrie bond”, taking a pound of Antonio’s flesh if Antonio defaults on the loan – which neither of them expect will come to pass. Despite Bassanio’s misgivings, Antonio agrees to the deal, and Shylock heads homeward to collect the funds.

At the same time, Portia and her maid Nerissa have been cataloging Portia’s many suitors, all of whom Portia finds objectionable because of their behavior or nationality. Portia’s deceased father has decreed that only those who solve a riddle consisting of choosing one of three caskets will have access to both his daughter’s hand in marriage and her vast inheritance. So far, no man has yet chosen the correct casket, though Portia has hopes that Bassanio will do so.

Back in Venice, Shylock’s daughter Jessica has been plotting to leave her stern father’s house. She is in love with a local Christian, Lorenzo. Lorenzo, a good friend of Bassanio’s, has sent word that he will come to her window, masked, during that night’s street festival to steal her away. While her father has gone to deliver the money to Bassanio, Jessica collects all of his money and jewels. She dresses as a boy, and – aided by two more of Antonio’s and Bassanio’s friends — runs away to Genoa to become a Christian and Lorenzo’s wife.

Discovering his daughter’s flight, a frantic Shylock is met in the streets by Solano and Salarino, two of the friends who helped Jessica to flee. They mock and taunt him about his daughter’s flight, and then inquire if he has also heard the rumor that one of Antonio’s ships has been lost. Shylock has, and knowing that his daughter’s flight was aided by Antonio’s friends (if not Antonio himself), says that Antonio should “look to his bond”. What was at first a “merrie sport” is now an occasion for revenge. Antonio has made Shylock’s life a misery for the sole reason that he is a Jew. Now, Shylock tells Antonio’s friends that he will take his revenge on Antonio “by Christian example”, taking a pound of his flesh.

Bassanio, having chosen the correct casket and won Portia’s hand, receives a letter that Antonio and Shylock are headed to court to receive judgment of extraction of the forfeiture. With Portia’s blessing, he speeds back to Venice, unaware that Portia and Nerissa have followed close behind, dressed as a young lawyer and clerk. They arrive in the courtroom, where Shylock will take none of the money with which Portia furnished Bassanio, but insists only upon the terms of the bond. Portia, impersonating an esteemed visiting lawyer, begins to rule that there is no legal recourse, and Shylock must have his way – but then announces that the bond does not mention blood. Shylock may take his pound of flesh, but if he spills even one drop of blood, his own life will be forfeit, for attempting to take the life of a Christian. Shylock, knowing he is beaten, relinquishes his thoughts of revenge and asks to take the money that was initially offered. Portia denies him; he insisted on the law only, so the law alone he shall have. Moreover, for plotting against the life of a Christian, she rules that Antonio should choose Shylock’s punishment. Antonio declares that all of Shylock’s goods should revert upon his death to his new Christian daughter and son-in-law, and moreover that Shylock himself should be made to convert. Shylock departs the courtroom, having lost his family, his belongings, and his G-d.

Bassanio and Antonio rejoice, and the new couples head severally back to Belmont. Portia and Nerissa, still dressed as a lawyer and clerk, enact a plot to trick their betrothal rings away from Bassanio and Gratiano. However, all is discovered and quickly forgiven once they are reunited in Belmont.

Major themes: racism, anti-Semitism, friendship, revenge, intolerance, nationalism, fidelity

Director’s Notes

Let us begin with the tough, and frequently asked, question: should we be producing this play? 

Here at the Atlanta Shakespeare Company, we are committed to producing the plays in William Shakespeare’s 39 play canon. As the world changes (and in other aspects stays very much the same as Elizabeth’s England), some of Shakespeare’s works hit a modern audience very differently than they might have struck the Globe’s patrons when originally penned. 

Artistic Director Jeff Watkins has said that, while the themes and utter humanity of Shakespeare’s characters are still entirely relevant to our experience today, Shakespeare’s words “speak most eloquently and profoundly from his own place and time.” And I absolutely concur.  For that reason, we do not impose a modern directorial concept on his plays. It is never my intention with this, or any, production to draw heavy-handed, conceptual and visual parallels between Elizabeth’s England and the current geopolitical climate of our world.  Rather my intention is to tell this story: Shakespeare’s story. Antonio’s story. Shylock’s story. Portia’s story. I conjure all of the empathy and grace possible in our rehearsal and performance spaces to tell a story that is, at all turns, completely lacking in either. 

I hear and understand the argument that to continue to produce this play may perpetuate harmful stereotypes and encourage the ongoing anti-semetic beliefs and violence that continue to plague our world. But to answer the question of whether or not we should produce this work, I would counter with another question: if not now, when? 

(My perception of) Shakespeare’s intent in writing this drama was to put on display the awful repercussions of human beings existing in community with one another without empathy. To provide “a mirror up to nature” and to provoke self-reflection in his audience members. In an increasingly divided world where sides are taken at an instant and all-or-nothing thinking permeates our rhetoric and social media engagement, I would argue that calls for greater empathy and tolerance are needed now more than ever. And this play speaks directly to those ideals. To the “quality of mercy.” 

Admittedly, this portrayal of a community starkly divided by hatred and mistrust speaks deeply and directly to our modern experience in a way that cannot and should not be completely comfortable. But neither should it be avoided. The Merchant of Venice is crunchy and complicated and, when produced thoughtlessly, can absolutely be harmful to perform and to witness. Please rest assured that this production, from casting to consultant meetings to pre-rehearsal one-on-one cast conversations to utilizing trauma-informed rehearsal practices to creating lobby displays and community engagement, was anything but thoughtless. 

My deepest gratitude to you, our audience, for choosing to join us in Venice and Belmont. Thank you for trusting me and the many artists of the Atlanta Shakespeare Company whose work and bravery contributed to the performance that you will see today. 

on ladies and shaking and challenging limitations

by: dani herd

The first LadyShakes show back in 2016 truly came from a very simple desire:

I wanted to get to work more with my friends.

Oftentimes in Shakespeare’s works, there might only be two or three female characters. So, if a production is being cast uncuriously in regards to gender identity, the ladies’ dressing room can turn into a pretty lonely place. I came up through the ASC’s Apprentice Company, meaning I spent nine months of intensive work alongside seven other young artists. And then, because of the scarcity of roles, I almost never had the chance to work alongside Kirstin Calvert Pugh, Jennifer Alice Acker, or Antonia LaChe. (If you’ll allow me the opportunity to name drop some of the coolest people I know.)

So, for two years, we– the female-identifying company members of the ASC– came together for an evening of scenes, fights, and music completely produced, directed, and performed by us. And, I don’t know, I want to be eloquent here, because part of me feels I need to convince you of something. But what I want to tell you is just the simple truth:

It was awesome. 

Y’all, it was awesome. To this day, some of the most beautiful and brutal performances of certain scenes I have ever seen came from that first night. I vividly remember having never cared about Prince Hal and Falstaff until I saw them played by Jenny Lamourt and Jen Acker. I understood and felt new things about the text while watching Kati Grace Brown and Kirstin Calvert Pugh in a scene from Richard III. 

(My friends are very, very talented.)

There’s a reason we keep coming back to Shakespeare’s plays; we’re not finished with them. There’s so much still to discover, but how can we when we limit our understanding of these iconic characters to a single archetype?

Personally, I no longer call myself a “lady.” Gender is something fluid and playful, and you know where I first learned that for myself? Shakespeare! When I played Rosalind in 2015 and 2016, I felt a sense of freedom onstage that I’d never experienced before. The ability to be funny and silly and achingly in love as both Rosalind and as Ganymede helped me find a peace within myself I didn’t realize I’d been missing. For a kid who grew up enchanted by the stories of Robin Hood and who didn’t know how to reconcile their body and presentation with their longing to put on a doublet and run around in the woods, As You Like It was a gamechanger. 

To limit casting of Shakespeare’s works to a white cis patriarchal paradigm is to ignore Shakespeare’s own interest in bending the gender roles and expectations of his own time. Gender roles have never been sacred. Your gender identity, however, is. My hope now is that LadyShakes will serve any actor who has felt othered by “conventional” casting. As a non-binary person, for example, I certainly hope I have a future yet with Shakespeare’s words. 

Why still call it “LadyShakes” when we seek now to serve so many amazing artists outside of one possible definition of “lady?” When I think of “lady” now, especially by Shakespeare’s standards, I am uninterested in strict binary definitions of how anyone has ever told me one gender must look or conduct themselves. I am instead interested in Shakespeare’s actual ladies: intelligent, ferocious, witty, challenging, romantic, strong, and flawed, yes, but deeply, deeply human. 

And mostly I think of my friends. They are some of the most wonderful beings and incredible artists I have ever known. It gives me boundless joy to know you’re here now, about to experience a story told by the best storytellers out there.

So, welcome to LadyShakes! We’re so thrilled to have you.

Performance days & times:
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 PM, and Sundays at 2:30pm. 

Ticket Prices:

Seating areas: Main Floor Seats, Box Seats (on floor) and Balcony Seats

Regular Adult Ticket Prices range from $24-$48 depending on the day of the show, ticket availability and the seating area.

Discount Ticket Options:

$20 for Thursday Previews (See online calendar for specific dates)

$24 for Friday Previews (See online calendar for specific dates)

Student ticket prices: $20 General Admission Tickets on Thursdays / $20 Balcony tickets on Fridays & Sundays. $5 off Floor & Box tickets on Fridays & Sundays (No student discounts on Saturdays)

Educator prices: $5 off per adult price level per night (Not valid on Saturday nights.)  

Military Discount: $3 off adult ticket price

Senior Discount: $3 off adult ticket price

Group Discount (Parties of 10 or more): $3 off adult ticket price

Purchase Tickets Online for most performances at www.shakespearetavern.com 

For information on: 

Education Programs and Workshops: Laura Cole, Director of Education and Training laura@shakespearetavern.com

Volunteer Opportunities: Rebecca Bell, Volunteer Coordinator at Rebecca@shakespearetavern.com

Accessibility and The Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse: The Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse is handicapped accessible. Please let the box office know if you have any special needs that we should be aware of in order to make your Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse experience the very best we can. Our handicapped entrance ramp/parking is located directly behind our building. Once you turn onto Renaissance Parkway from Peachtree Street, you will turn right onto Courtland Street. The Tavern’s back entrance will be immediately on your right once you clear the building on the corner and the traffic poles. The turn comes up quickly, so please drive slowly. Handicapped parking is directly in front of the ramp, behind our building, and anywhere spaces are available.                               

Location: The Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse is located at 499 Peachtree Street NE, just four blocks south of The Fox Theater and directly across the street from Emory University Hospital Midtown.

Land Rights: We acknowledge that the location of The Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse is  on the traditional tribal lands of the Muscogee Creek, colonially referred to as Atlanta.

Parking: We recommend parking in the Emory University Hospital Midtown Parking Deck located directly across the street from the front doors of The Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse on Peachtree Street. Regular parking price is $5.                       

Food and Beverage Service: The Tavern opens one hour and fifteen minutes before the performance for food and beverage service. Bardic Inspiration Catering provides a British-pub-style menu for dinner. The Tavern has  beer, wine, coffee, tea, soft drinks, bottle beer and draft beers on tap.

Seating and Box Office: Seating is done on a “first come, first served” basis within each designated section (Main Floor, Box Seats, Balcony). Table seating is limited however all seats can accommodate food and beverages. For tickets or more information, call or email The Tavern Box Office at 404.874.5299 x 0 or boxoffice@shakespearetavern.com or buy tickets online at www.shakespearetavern.com

The Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse is a registered 501 ( C ) 3 non-profit organization.