Venice 1595: Aristocratic splendor alongside bitterest affliction.
Antonio, a wealthy merchant, has just poured all his fortune into an international transaction: he has lavishly equipped three merchant ships and sent them out on the seas on profitable business. To help his notoriously indebted friend Bassanio in his courtship of the wealthy Portia, he sends for the Jewish moneylender Shylock. He himself wants to vouch if Shylock will lend Bassanio 3000 ducats - even with a pound of his own flesh if he fails to repay on time. Shylock, who has always been reviled by Antonio and treated as a leper, sees the hour of retribution has come.
Whoever makes such deals must fear for his life.
400 years ago William Shakespeare died, the world's foremost playwright, whose plays, comedies and tragedies alike, are among the most frequently performed plays.
Text source and more information about this event: http://www.gallustheater.de/2017/06/kaufven.php
