Shakespeare's Globe Theatre: The Merchant of Venice

Portia, a wealthy heiress of Belmont, is forced to set her suitors a challenge. The winner gets her hand in marriage; the losers will lose her hand and much more. In Venice, the epicenter of consumption, speculation and debt, Bassanio borrows money from his friend Antonio to finance his attempt. Antonio, in turn, takes out a loan from the moneylender Shylock. The loan will be repaid when Antonio’s ships return to the city. But if the ships fail to return, and the money cannot be repaid, Antonio will give to Shylock a pound of his own flesh. And they do fail. And Shylock will have his ‘bond.’

In some of his most highly-charged scenes, Shakespeare dramatises the competing claims of tolerance and intolerance, religious law and civil society, justice and mercy; while in the character of Shylock he created one of the most memorable outsiders in all theater. .

Double Olivier and Tony Award winner Jonathan Pryce plays Shylock in his first appearance at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Shakespeare’s Globe is delighted to present The Merchant of Venice, directed by Jonathan Munby and starring Jonathan Pryce as Shylock. This new production of one of Shakespeare’s most poetically dazzling and morally ambivalent plays will be designed by Mike Britton and composed by Jules Maxwell.

Jonathan Pryce CBE is an internationally-acclaimed stage and screen actor, who most recently appeared as Cardinal Wolsey in the television adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. His extensive theatre work includes Comedians in London and on Broadway, for which he won a Tony Award, Hamlet in London, for which he received an Olivier Award, and Miss Saigon, in which he starred on both sides of the Atlantic, winning further Olivier and Tony awards. Jonathan also won the Cannes Film Festival and Evening Standard Awards for Best Actor for his performance in the film Carrington.

Daniel Lapaine plays Bassanio, having most recently appeared in Other Desert Cities (Old Vic). His other theatre credits include Hedda Gabler (Old Vic), The Winter’s Tale (Sheffield
Crucible), The Dance of Death (Donmar at the Trafalgar Studios), Scenes from the Back of Beyond and F**king Games (Royal Court). Daniel’s screen credits include Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, Charlie Brooker’s Channel 4 series Black Mirror and Muriel’s Wedding.

Rachel Pickup plays Portia. Rachel has worked extensively in New York and Washington, where her stage credits include An Ideal Husband (Shakespeare Theater Company) and
Dancing in Lughnasa (Irish Repertory Theater). In the UK, her credits include leading roles in Sir Peter Hall’s Bedroom Farce, Irina Brook’s All’s Well That Ends Well and Terry Hands’
Twelfth Night. In 2010 she was nominated for a Critics’ Circle Award for Best Actress for her performance in Miss Julie (Rose Theatre Kingston).

Dominic Mafham plays Antonio, having most recently appeared on stage in David Grindley’s award winning revival of Journey’s End (West End, UK tour). His other stage
credits include Edward II and Danny Boyle’s The Pretenders at the RSC. Dominic was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for
his performance in The Clinic (RTE). His extensive television credits include the BAFTA winning BBC adaptation of Our Mutual Friend, The Musketeers (BBC1) and Foyle’s War
(ITV). His film credits include Shooting Fish and The English Patient.

The role of Jessica will be played by rising star Phoebe Pryce. Having graduated from RADA last year, Phoebe is currently making her professional debut in James Christopher’s
Charlie’s Dark Angel at the Drayton Arms Theatre.

The full cast comprises Jonathan Pryce, Stefan Adegbola, Michael Bertenshaw, Philip Cox, Scott Karim, Ben Lamb, Daniel Lapaine, Christopher Logan, Dominic Mafham, Brian Martin, Dorothea Myer-Bennett, Regé-Jean Page, Rachel Pickup, Phoebe Pryce and David Sturzaker.