The Merchant of Venice

An updated¿version of¿The¿Merchant of Venice¿that speaks to our contemporary reckoning with racism and injustice.¿¿Elise Thoron¿s translation of Shakespeare¿s searing¿The¿Merchant of Venice¿cuts straight to the heart of today¿s fraught issues of social justice and systemic racism. Thoron¿s clear, compelling contemporary verse translation¿retains¿the power of the original iambic pentameter while allowing readers and audiences to fully¿comprehend¿and directly experience the brutal dilemmas of Shakespeare¿s Venice,¿where¿prejudice and privilege reign unchallenged. As the author of three acclaimed music-theater works on the Jewish¿experience and¿informed by her work directing¿cross-cultural¿projects in locations as different as Russia, Japan, Cuba, and New York City, Thoron brings to her¿Merchant¿an¿immediacy¿that speaks directly to the present reckoning with race in America.¿¿¿This translation was written as part of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival¿s Play On! project, which commissioned ne