The Merchant of Venice

Event Recap

Produced by
Heart of America Shakespeare Festival Directed by Sidonie Garrett

On Sunday March 29, 2015, Kansas City ESU members and guests attended the last performance of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.  This production by The Heart of America Shakespeare Festival and directed by Sidonie Garrett, was the first play produced indoors by the Festival.  This was also be the first professional production of The Merchant of Venice in Kansas City in 65 years.

This final production of The Merchant of Venice was a Sunday matinee performance at the Johnson County Community College Polsky Theatre.  It was a complete sellout and enthusiastic crowd.  At the end of the performance, Sidonie Garrett held a "Talk Back" Q&A session with the audience and the entire cast.  At least 75-100 audience members stayed for the Talk Back and many interesting questions were presented to Sidonie and the cast.

ESU welcomed three guests to our group, Mary Spangler and Nicole Burriss.  After the play, nine ESU members met at a local restaurant, Ricco's Italian, for a casual dinner to discuss the play and relax.  It was a great afternoon.

MORE ABOUT THE MERCHANT OF VENICE:

Two of Kansas City's great Shakespearian actors star in The Merchant of Venice—Robert Gibby Brand as Antonio and Gary Neal Johnson as Shylock.  We invite you to journey with our ESU group to experience this historic production presented by the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival.

The Merchant of Venice is an intriguing drama of love, greed, and revenge. At its heart, the play contrasts the characters of the maddened and vengeful Shylock, a Venetian moneylender, with the gracious, level-headed Portia, a wealthy young woman besieged by suitors.

In this richly plotted drama, Shylock, whom Shakespeare endowed with all of the depth and vitality of his greatest characters, is not alone in his villainy. In scene after scene, the characters demonstrate that honesty is a quality often strained where matters of love and money are concerned.

The gravity and suspense of the play's central plot, together with its romance, have made The Merchant of Venice a favorite of audiences, and one of the most studied and performed of Shakespeare's plays. 

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