Merchant of Venice

An updatedversion ofTheMerchant of Venicethat speaks to our contemporary reckoning with racism and injustice. Elise Thoron's translation of Shakespeare's searingTheMerchant of Venicecuts straight to the heart of today's fraught issues of social justice and systemic racism. Thoron's clear, compelling contemporary verse translationretainsthe power of the original iambic pentameter while allowing readers and audiences to fullycomprehendand directly experience the brutal dilemmas of Shakespeare's Venice,whereprejudice and privilege reign unchallenged. As the author of three acclaimed music-theater works on the Jewishexperience andinformed by her work directingcross-culturalprojects in locations as different as Russia, Japan, Cuba, and New York City, Thoron brings to herMerchantanimmediacythat 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 new translations of thirty-nine Shakespeare plays.These translations present the work of "The Bard" in language accessible to modern audiences while never losing the beauty of Shakespeare's verse. These volumes make these works available for the first time in print-a new First Folio for a new era.