The Merchant of Venice (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse) London Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
Production Covid-19 Safety ProtocolsMember Reviews (4)
See it if Very exciting and interesting take on Shakespeare. The acting is phenomenal.
Don't see it if If you’re sensitive to the many antisemetic moments in the show from some of the characters.
See it if You like shows that take full advantage of the theatre's structure
Don't see it if You don't like classics retellings
See it if You’re a Shakespeare lover. See it if you want to get a contemporary take on a play hundreds of years old.
Don't see it if You are someone who doesn’t like intense, thought provoking theatre. This has hard themes of racism and anti-semitism.
See it if If you love shakespeare, in particular his darker material this is one for you.
Don't see it if If you are uncomfortable with antisemitism, this show is dark.
Critic Reviews (9)
Despite being trimmed to just two hours, Abigail Graham’s production of ‘The Merchant of Venice’ takes a surprisingly long time to get to the point.
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Graham’s Merchant clocks in at 2 and a quarter hours, largely by cutting to the meat of a play that, after all, hinges on the delivery of a pound of flesh. As a result, the play is pacy and vivid, sometimes raucously funny but more often troublingly trenchant.
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But it’s so extreme and one-sided in its portrayal that it becomes a hectoring lesson about colossal historic and current wrongs, rather than a complex drama that holds up a mirror and invites us to confront our own prejudices.
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Grappling with the complexities of what is potentially Shakespeare’s most problematic play, director Abigail Graham’s bold production of The Merchant of Venice never pulls its punches.
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...Adrian Schiller’s superbly understated, steely but all too human Shylock forces us to accept that mitigation, as a subset of mercy, is the most Antonio should plead. Perhaps Shylock’s story has never been told more compassionately.
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Shakespeare’s challenging text has been streamlined to a neat two hours in this contemporary production. Its innards have been snipped and significantly shuffled...The result is a production cleanly cut, sharply told.
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Graham’s staging has been described as an attempt by her and an adept cast of ten to “reclaim” the play. What this entails is substantial cutting...Purists may object, but it works.
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As directors, Abigail Graham and Tash Hyman do not shy away from any challenging material. Their contemporary reimagining places these themes right in front of your eyes, barely allowing you to breathe – uncomfortable viewing ensues.
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