Merchant of Venice “On Stage” at Toronto Reference Library 2013
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Dr. Vivian Rakoff on The Merchant of Venice
Toronto Public Library and the Stratford Festival present four thought-provoking lectures by noted theatre experts on the Shakespeare plays to be presented at Stratford in 2013. Preceded by a cash bar reception; doors open at 6 pm. A question and answer session will follow each talk. Tue Mar 19, 2013 Book for your free ticket for this lecture – and all the other On Stage Shakespeare lectures. Note: separate ticket required for each lecture. A draw for a pair of Stratford tickets will follow the Q&A. |
UPDATE: Dr Rakoff's lecture was recorded and is available as an audio podcast from the Straford Festival website.
Want to learn more about Merchant of Venice, why not try these reading and viewing suggestions?
Speaker’s Choice: suggested by Dr. Vivian Rakoff
Shakespeare and the Jews by James Shapiro. Columbia University Press, 1996. Shakespeare scholar Shapiro analyzes English attitudes towards the Jew s in the early modern period.
Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt, New York: Norton, 2004.
and even more about Merchant of Venice
Merchant of Venice:
Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. Arden Shakespeare, 2000.
The Merchant of Venice: A Guide to the Play by Vicki K. Janik. Greenwood Press, 2003. An introduction to the play for theatergoers and students that examines sources, plot, characters, themes, critical reception and performance history.
Screening Shakespeare in the Twenty-First Century edited by Mark Thornton Burnett and Ramona Wray. Edinburgh University Press, 2006. A collection of essays on recent cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays including an analysis of Michael Radford’s Merchant of Venice.
Shylock: A Legend and Its Legacy by John J. Gross. Simon & Schuster, 1992. Theatre critic Gross examines the performance history, changing audience response and societal influence of Shakespeare’s most controversial character.
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (DVD). BBC Worldwide, 2008. Originally broadcast in 1972, starring Maggie Smith as Portia, Frank Finlay as Shylock and Charles Gray as Antonio.
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (DVD). Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, 2005. Starring Al Pacino as Shylock, Jeremy Irons as Antonio and Joseph Fiennes as Bassanio; directed by Michael Radford.
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (DVD). Ambrose Video Publishing, 2000. Originally produced in 1981 by BBC Television in association with Time-Life Television. Starring Warren Mitchell as Shylock and Gemma Jones as Portia.
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (CD). CBC Audio, 2002.
The Stratford Festival production directed by Richard Monette, starring
Lucy Peacock as Portia, Paul Soles as Shylock and Peter Hutt as Antonio.
Shakespeare:
The Life of William Shakespeare: a Critical Biography by Lois Potter. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. Explores Shakespeare’s life and works, emphasizing the literary and theatrical influences that shaped them.
Nine Lives of William Shakespeare by Graham Holderness. Continuum, 2011. Nine scenarios in various literary styles depicting different aspects of Shakespeare’s life, with accompanying essays discussing the factual sources for each.
Related Reading:
The Birth of Feminism: Woman as Intellect in Renaissance Italy and England by Sarah Gwyneth Ross. Harvard University Press, 2009. Explores the challenge to traditional notions of womanhood provided by educated women during the Renaissance by focusing on the lives of nineteen learned women.
The Ghetto of Venice by Riccardo Calimani. M. Evans, 1987. Traces the origins and history of Venice’s Jewish ghetto including the complex and shifting relationship between the city’s Jewish and Christian communities.
A History of Venice by John Julius Norwich. First American edition. Knopf, 1982. A comprehensive and engaging popular history of the “Floating City”.
Go Digital:
Venice: Pure City by Peter Ackroyd (eAudiobook). Chatto & Windus, 2009. eAudiobook tie-in to the television program Venice Revealed, hosted by popular novelist and acclaimed biographer Peter Ackroyd and read by Simon Vance.
Shakespeare Collection.
Full-text electronic database from Gale Publishing, including The Arden
Shakespeare, criticism, performance, literary and interdisciplinary
journals. [TPL library card required to login.]
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