by William Shakespeare directed by Patrick Dooley

SYNOPSIS
Bassanio, a young soldier and scholar of Venice, lobbies his close friend Antonio for money to woo Portia, a wealthy and beautiful woman of Belmont. Antonio, unable to furnish this cash because it is all invested in ships, must borrow his money from Shylock, the wealthy Jew. Antonio, in an unprecedented series of misfortunes, loses all his wealth, only to find that the Jew, angered by the theft of his daughter and other insults, plans to make good on his demand for a pound of Antonio's flesh. Deals are cut and jealousies are conceived in this controversial play where the deception is rampant and the blood is cold.


Opened: October 15, 1994 at La Val's Subterranean; November 23, 1994 at EXIT
Performed: Thursday & Friday & Saturday at 8:00 pm
Performed At: La Val's Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid Avenue, Berkeley & EXIT Theatre, 156 Eddy Street, San Francisco
Closed: November 19, 1994 at La Val's Subterranean; December 10, 1994 at EXIT Theatre

Patrick Dooley, designer and director
Patrick Dooley, artistic director

This was back-to-basics-break-it-down Shakespeare. We wanted sexy and vicious and charming and mourning. On a bad night we were a bunch of friends butchering the Bard in the basement. On a good night we were brilliant.

Candi Ellis for The East Bay Express
Hillary J. Fogerty for The Daily Californian
Karen D'Souza for The Oakland Tribune