[Mad_as_heck]

I think a case can be made that the portrayal of Jews in the Merchant of Venice is actually very open-minded and "progressive" for an era as deeply anti-Jewish as Elizabethan England.

Its very hard to imagine a Nazi or Muslim play with a Jewish villain that would let Shylock deliver the wonderful soliloquy in which he asserts his humanity. "If you prick me, will I not bleed?"

I have a little bit of Jewish ancestry and I don't think Shakespeare was an antisemitic, not any more than his age anyway.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“If you prick me, will I not bleed?”

My first serious boyfriend was Jewish. Does that count? LOL! It just didn’t sit well with his Jewish family and my Lutheran folks. That’s the first time I’ve ever felt rejected for who I am, but I totally understand it now as an adult.

“West Side Story” was written about us. ;) (NOT!)

I’m just SO excited to see this play. I’m going to read it before we go. My best friend buys us tickets to see a play each summer as my birthday present. It’s just the most awesome experience to watch a play out in the woods.

I sobbed like a lunatic while watching their production of “Macbeth” last year. Part of it is the beauty of the words, and the rest of it is coming from a “Theater Family” and I know how darn hard it is to knit a production together and pull it off.

Why these people don’t all leave us for Broadway is a miracle. Each and every actor in that troop could hold any leading role on The Great White Way. :)