DER KAUFMANN (Merchant) Revisits Horror of the Holocaust, 9/27-10/13

Manila, Philippines, September 17, 2013--Tanghalang Pilipino (TP) met with the press earlier today to officially announce its 27th theater season's third offering, "Der Kaufmann" (Merchant), a retelling of William Shakespeare's comedy "The Merchant of Venice."

A play within a play, "Der Kaufmann," relives the horror of the holocaust: the Nazis directing the Jewish "actors," underscoring the dehumanizing effect of racism and intolerance--a sharp contrast to the original material written between 1596 and 1598.

The production runs from Friday, September 27 to Sunday, October 13 at Tanghalang Huseng Batute, Cultural Center of the Philippines.

According to Giselle Garcia, the production's dramaturg, who also worked on Lloyd Suh's "Jesus in India," which recently played in New York City, "In staging 'The Merchant of Venice' in Nazi period Germany, we're interrogating anti-Semitism and anti-homosexuality as we see it today. We are forced to question our own apathetic worldviews, questioning what we see and why we believe what we believe. And more importantly, try to understand why we hate, why we kill and how we create suffering."

TP's seemingly radical take on "The Merchant of Venice" is not meant to condemn any race for atrocities committed in the past; it is meant to underscore the artists' continuing commitment to advocating respect for human rights, equality, justice, mercy and forgiveness.

Tuxqs Rutaquio, Lou Veloso, Tracy Quila and Trixie Esteban star.

Rody Vera and Rutaquio share directing chores.

For tickets (Regular-PhP600, Students-PhP300), call (632) 832-1125 local 1621 or TicketWorld (632) 891-9999.