The Merchant of Venice May 16, 2009

The story revolves around Shylock, a Jewish moneylender caught between his faith's strictures and the demands of Christianity. There's little to laugh at, to be sure. Yet in this astute production, Edward Hall and company pull off a miracle, revealing Merchant's underlying absurdities -- the virtue in vice and vice in virtue -- while delivering an unsparing rendition of the harrowing bargain at its core.