The Shylock and The Shakespeareans @ The New Ohio Theatre

Not a Shakespeare person? Well, this definitely-not-a-Shakespeare-play might be exactly what you’ve been looking for…

The Shylock and The Shakespeareans, written and directed by Edward Einhorn of Untitled Theater Company No. 61, is a darkly humorous retelling of The Merchant of Venice. The “Shylock” is a Jewish diamond seller named Jacob, called “shylock” as a slur. The Shakespeareans are a gang of white supremacists, led by Jacob’s former clownish servant, Gobbo. It is a comedy colliding with a tragedy: Jacob’s daughter Jessica loves Lorenzo (here the son of Asian immigrants), Portia loves Bassanio, and everyone can go home happy, just as long as one pesky lawsuit doesn’t dig up anything too ugly.

A courtroom clash!

Pictured, right to left: Yael Haskal, Chase Lee, Thomas Shuman, Chapman Hyatt, Kingsley Nwaogu, Jeremy Kareken, Ethan Fox, Nina Mann, me, and Eric E. Oleson. Photo by Richard Termine.

I’ve had an incredible time working on such a smart, timely piece of theater that asks all of us to take a critical look at The Merchant of Venice and reckon with its legacy. Come check us out if you can!

We are running at The New Ohio Theater June 1-17 (officially opening on Monday, June 5th). Tickets for the live performance dates can be purchased here. If you can’t make it to the theater, fear not, you can still watch the on-demand video performance through Sunday, July 16th.

A surprise guest who likes to pontificate? Who could it possibly be….???

Pictured, left to right: Yael Haskal, Kingsley Nwaogu, Eric Oleson, Thomas Shuman, me, Nina Mann, and Chapman Hyatt. Photo by Richard Termine.

CAST : Craig Anderson, Janine Hegarty, JaneAnne Halter, Yael Haskal, Chapman Hyatt, Chase Lee, Stephanie Litchfield, Jeremy Kareken, Nina Mann, Nathaniel Meek, Kingsley Nwaogu, Ethan Fox, Eric E. Oleson, Thomas Shuman

CREATIVE TEAM: Edward Einhorn (Writer/Director), Richard Philbin (Music), Berit Johnson (Stage Manager), Becca Silbert (AD/Sound Design), Mike Mroch (Set Design), Ramona Ponce (Costume Design), Eric Norbury (Lighting Design), Iben Cenholt (Video/live-streaming)

Content Warning: This show does contain discussions/depictions of antisemitism, racism, xenophobia and gun violence/mass shooting. Please take care, and no hard feelings if this show just isn’t something for you.