PERSHORE residents are being invited to watch a screening of one of Shakespeare’s most iconic plays to celebrate the 400th anniversary of The Bard’s death.
As part of this year’s Globe on Screen, ‘The Merchant of Venice’ will be shown at Pershore Number 8 Community Arts Centre on Tuesday, August 23.
Double Olivier and Tony award-winner Jonathan Pryce, who has featured in ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Wolf Hall’ and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, provides an enigmatic performance as Shylock in this historic battle between greed and love.
The play tells the tale of Portia, a wealthy heiress of Belmont, who is forced to set her suitors a challenge of which the winner will gain her hand in marriage.
In Venice, the epicentre of consumption, speculation and debt, Bassanio borrows money from his friend Antonio to finance his attempt, who in turn, takes out a loan from moneylender Shylock.
The loan will be repaid when Antonio’s ships return to the city, but if they fail to return and the money cannot be repaid, Antonio will give Shylock a pound of his own flesh.
In some of his most highly-charged scenes, Shakespeare dramatises the competing claims of tolerance and intolerance, religious law and civil society and justice and mercy, while in the character of Shylock he created one of the most memorable outsiders in all theatre.
Other renowned cast members include Stefan Adegbola, Michael Bertenshaw, Philip Cox, Scott Karim, Ben Lamb, Daniel Lapaine, Christopher Logan, Dominic Mafham, Brian Martin and Dorothea Myer-Bennett.
The performance starts at 7pm and costs £12 for adults and £8 for students.
Call the Box Office on 01386 555488 or visit www.number8.org for more information.
