Photos/Video: PLAYING SHYLOCK U.S. Premiere At Polonsky Shakespeare Center
The U.S. premiere of Playing Shylock, now running through December 7, 2025, at Theatre for a New Audience.
By: A.A. Cristi Oct. 24, 2025
Acclaimed actor and screen legend Saul Rubinek (Frasier, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) makes a commanding return to the stage in the U.S. premiere of Playing Shylock, now open at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn, home of Theatre for a New Audience. The production, presented by Starvox Entertainment, runs through December 7, 2025. View new production photos and video highlights from the show below.
Directed by Martin Kinch and written by Mark Leiren-Young, the play explores the fallout after a controversial performance of The Merchant of Venice is canceled mid-show. Rubinek, playing a version of himself, confronts questions of who gets to tell which stories — and whether we can still share our humanity through art.
The creative team includes Shawn Kerwin (set and costume design), Jason Hand (lighting design), and Olivia Wheeler (sound design).
Rubinek said, “Playing Shylock is one of the few productions today that dares to confront antisemitism head-on. Theatre remains a space where people of all backgrounds can come together to listen, laugh, and face hard truths.”
A veteran of stage and screen, Rubinek’s distinguished career spans more than four decades, with memorable performances in Unforgiven, True Romance, The Family Man, and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. On television, he’s appeared in Hunters, Schitt’s Creek, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Born in a post-WWII refugee camp in Germany, Rubinek’s lifelong devotion to storytelling was shaped by his father’s Yiddish repertory theatre. His early theatre roots include joining the Stratford Festival company at age eight and co-founding the Toronto Free Theatre, laying the groundwork for a remarkable career that bridges classical theatre and modern storytelling.
Videos