When we did our show on Romeo and Juliet a few months ago, Tina Packer invited us to come up to Shakespeare & Co. in Lenox, Mass., to see her new production of The Merchant of Venice this summer. Colin said we'd love to; we'll come up there and do a show!
It seemed like the sort of niceties that people often toss off on the radio.
But it turns out they meant it. And so, so did we! So we went up and taped a show in the Berkshires with Tina and her Shylock, Jonathan Epstein.
It's a fascinating production of a fascinating play full of anti-semitism and sexism and racism and homophobia. Oh. And it's a comedy!
This hour, a conversation about a 400-year-old play that couldn't be more relevant today, The Merchant of Venice.
GUESTS:
- Jonathan Epstein - Plays Shylock in Shakespeare and Company's current production of The Merchant of Venice
- Tina Packer - Was the founding artistic director of Shakespeare and Company and is the director of its current production of The Merchant of Venice
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Colin McEnroe, Betsy Kaplan, Esther Shittu, and Audrianna Smith contributed to this show.
