Sieloc
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay
Sun 5-Tue 7 Aug
Shylock, one of Shakespeare’s most dramatic characters, is a memorable personage from The Merchant Of Venice. As a Jewish moneylender, his true identity is a matter of a critical debate – is he the villain or the victim in the story? In Shakespeare’s time there were no Jews legally present in England, though in his plays they were often referred as money lenders from the Middle East. Historically, Christian kings did not allow Jews to own land or serve in the government and thus money lending was the only option left for them. Filled with anger by his mistreatment at the hands of Venice’s Christians, Shylock plots revenge by taking a pound of Antonio’s flesh as a payment in return.
The story is told through the eyes of the moneylender’s only friend, Tubal, the only other Jewish character from Shakespeare’s abundant repertoire. With all eyes on him, Tubal takes a central role in the performance and promises to entertain the audience with his humorous storytelling.
{Sieloc} is set to celebrate the rich capacity of Shakespeare’s language and bring out the hilarious and captivating persona of Shylock. Starring Rhodri Miles, this Welsh-language production runs as part of the Eisteddfod in Cardiff Bay, and is sure to be an interesting look at ethnic and linguistic identity in the context of the most famous English writer.
words Filiz Mehmedova
Tickets: £10. Info: 029 2063 6464 / www.wmc.org.uk