I guess they never saw Merchant of Venice peformed.
One of the best. I don’t have much use for “staging” Shakespeare in new times and places. The best I’ve seen were the BBC productions from the 70s made with up and comers like Derek Jacobi, Alan Rickman, and John Cleese and with very small budgets. Jacobi’s Hamlet for example, is pretty much played on a bare stage with a few props and a couple of chairs. There are many who believe it is the best performance of the Prince of Denmark.