The Merchant of Venice (Annotated), or In Sooth I Know Not Why I Am So Sad at FCCLA

In this new production, theatre dybbuk weaves Elizabethan history and news from the 21st century into William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. The ensemble and artistic director/playwright Aaron Henne have used Shakespeare’s controversial play as the starting point for a full theatrical work infused with music, movement, and thoughtful provocation.

The Merchant of Venice was likely written between 1596 and 1598, only a few years after plague had temporarily closed London's theaters. This was a period of great uncertainty in English society, with ongoing conflicts taking their toll, concerns about the government's stability under an aging leader, and significant economic stresses.

The Merchant of Venice (Annotated), or In Sooth I Know Not Why I Am So Sad takes a kaleidoscopic view of the ways in which members of a society displace their fears on the "other" during times of upheaval, an example of which can perhaps be seen in Merchant in its portrayal of Shylock, the Jewish moneylender.

The environment of Shatto Chapel at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles (FCCLA), with its iconography and architecture, provides a unique landscape for this physically dynamic and intellectually rigorous investigation of Merchant. In addition, the work includes adaptations of traditional English Christian melodies which will be played on the chapel's pipe organ.

Running for a limited engagement in Los Angeles before touring. LA performances are May 12-14 and May 19-21 with shows at 8 PM on Fridays and Saturdays and at 7 PM on Sundays.