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First Folio Plans Intriguing Presentation of Merchant of Venice

I'm a city kid that barely has any interest in the suburbs around Chicago except to avoid going there. Traffic is a nightmare and nothing is pedestrian friendly, not even the Woodfield Mall parking lot. But there is an attraction that I used to frequent when I worked in Schaumburg that's known as First Folio Theatre. Of course, they present Shakespeare, but only as an adjunct to their regular season of more main stream work. This season First Folio will mount the most controversial of Shakespeare's output, The Merchant of Venice.

As a species, we never seem to tire of examining the lives of Jews. Literature, opera, theatre and film all have classic expositions of various aspects of Jewish existence. In film, Schindler's List and Rod Steiger's masterful portrayal of The Pawnbroker come to mind. The Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof is another example of our fascination with Jewish life and tradition. In literature I can immediately name Pillars of the Earth and World Without End (both contemporary historical novels by Ken Follett) that portray the prejudices of medieval England toward Jews. The very existence of Hollywood is probably dependent on Jewish immigrants who began making films in the Southern California desert. For a quick overview of the Jewish contribution to American entertainment see the brief article Jews and the Entertainment Industry in Los Angeles California. For a contemporary theatre piece that gives us a realistic look at Jews in the Southern United States, try The Last Night of Ballyhoo by Alfred Uhry. Uhry also wrote Driving Miss Daisy and the libretto for the musical Parade; the three have become known collectively as the Atlanta Trilogy and all three treat themes related to the Jewish experience in the U.S.

Clearly, some portrayals of Jews are sympathetic while others are rife with prejudice and stereotype. The Merchant of Venice falls into this latter category, hence it has become the target of politically correct critics over the years. I write not to judge the merits of Shakespeare's play, nor to judge the wisdom of presenting it or not presenting it. Rather, what is interesting about the First Folio approach is that they have planned The Merchant Project along with the production of The Merchant of Venice. Briefly, The Merchant Project is a series of staged readings of alternate versions of Shakespere's tale.

For what it's worth, I can recall reading a heavily redacted version of The Merchant of Venice for a high school English class in the late 1950s. I wonder if that would happen today?

Here's the lineup of First Folio's staged readings:

  • Maurice Schwartz: Shylock and His Daughter performed by the National Yiddish Theatre.
  • Ramon flores and Lynn Butler: The Merchant of Santa Fe performed by Teatro Vista
  • Shishir Kurup: Merchant on Venice performed by Silk Road Theatre Project
  • Christopher Marlowe: The Jew of Malta performed by Signal Ensemble
I've recently become a much more avid Shakespeare fan which, added to my already nascent admiration of Christopher Marlow makes the whole project that much more attractive. I will probably brave the wilds of Oakbrook's Mayslake Peabody Estate Forest Preserve (home of First Folio) to take in at least a portion of this interesting season.

For more information about First Folio Theatre Company visit First Folio Theatre Home Page.

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