COMING TO: JFEST IN THE SAN DIEGO REGION JUNE 18, 2023
The Merchant of Venice (Annotated),
or In Sooth I Know Not Why I Am So Sad
"The beauty of Henne’s play and his production is that it’s not really a play, it’s an oratorio, spoken (and sung) in a church, and gorgeously rendered by the ensemble and the design team."
– Steven Leigh Morris, Stage Raw
"a poignant statement on how humans treat each other and how throughout history, money is power"
– Jeff Slayton, LA Dance Chronicle
photo by Taso Papadakis
photo by Taso Papadakis
photo by Taso Papadakis
photo by Taso Papadakis
ABOUT THE SHOW
What can a play from sixteenth century England tell us about how antisemitism and other prejudicial beliefs operate in our world today? What perceived truths does a play reveal about the society in which it was created, and what ideas within that society does it reinforce?
William Shakespeare likely wrote The Merchant of Venice between 1596 and 1598, only a few years after plague had temporarily closed London's theaters. This was a period of great uncertainty in English society, with ongoing conflicts taking their toll, concerns about the government's stability under an aging leader, and significant economic stresses. The anxieties associated with these societal pressures can perhaps be seen in Merchant in its portrayal of Shylock, the Jewish moneylender.
Bringing together elements of Merchant with Elizabethan history and news from the 21st century, The Merchant of Venice (Annotated), or In Sooth I Know Not Why I Am So Sad takes a kaleidoscopic view of the ways in which members of a society displace their fears on the "other" during times of upheaval.
The run time is approximately 2 hours 45 minutes including one 15 minute intermission.
LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
The Merchant of Venice (Annotated), or In Sooth I Know Not Why I Am So Sad premiered on May 12, 2023 in Los Angeles in Shatto Chapel at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles. The inaugural production engaged with the chapel's vaulted ceilings, ornate design, and iconography and incorporated the chapel's pipe organ in the music and sound design. It ran for a limited two-week engagement before beginning a tour to other locations throughout North America.
TOUR LOCATIONS
Following the Los Angeles premiere, The Merchant of Venice (Annotated), or In Sooth I Know Not Why I Am So Sad will travel to The Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival (JFEST) for a presentation on June 18, 2023 and the Oshman Family JCC (OFJCC) in the San Francisco Bay Area September 9, 2023 as part of a rolling world premiere. The show will then tour to additional metropolitan areas including Portland, Oregon and Baltimore, Maryland.
THE TEAM
Written and Directed by Aaron Henne
Developed with Leslie K. Gray, Erith Jaffe-Berg, Joe Jordan, Julie A. Lockhart, Gabrielle Ostrove, Flori Schutzer, Fahad Siadat, Dylan Southard, Diana Tanaka, Inger Tudor, Jon Weinberg, and Jonathan C.K. Williams
Cast:
Joe Jordan
Adam Lebowitz-Lockard
Julie A. Lockhart
Diana Tanaka
Inger Tudor
Stage Manager: Roella Dellosa
Composer / Music Director: Fahad Siadat
Keyboardist: Andrew Anderson
Lighting Designer: Brandon Baruch
Sound Designer: Daniel Tator / Launch
Production Designer: Leslie K. Gray
Costume Designer: Kathryn Poppen
Dramaturg: Dylan Southard
Contributing Scholar: Erith Jaffe-Berg, PhD
Consulting Scholar: Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, PhD
Historical Consultant: Jennifer Wells, JD/PhD
IN-PROCESS PRESENTATIONS
The Breman Museum in Atlanta, GA presented an in-process presentation under the working title The Merchant Project on Sunday, February 5, 2023. The free event consisted of a 60 minute reading of selections from the play followed by a 30 minute Q & A.
That program was part of our 2023 Atlanta Residency and was supported in part by a grant from The Covenant Foundation.
COMPANION PIECES
The performance art piece The Villainy You Teach was created by theatre dybbuk in the winter of 2023 as a companion piece to The Merchant of Venice (Annotated), or In Sooth I Know Not Why I Am So Sad. Villainy also explores The Merchant of Venice through the durational performance of a Shylock monologue repeated throughout a stylized reading of the play. Its inaugural performance was presented in collaboration with Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions and the Philosophical Research Society on March 2, 2023 in the library at the Philosophical Research Society.
LEARNING RESOURCES
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resource packet from dramaturg Dylan Southard (PDF)
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podcast episode "The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages"– Dr. Geraldine Heng discusses the evidence for racialized thinking in the European medieval period
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podcast episode "In Defense of Women" – Dr. Erith Jaffe-Berg discusses 16th century Jewish life on the Northern Italian Peninsula and comedia dell'arte