Shakespeare rocks, and Gareth Armstrong totally agrees. Armstrong wrote and directed Shylock, a one-man play, that muses on the trials and tribulations of Jews throughout history. The character of Shylock (think back to Merchant of Venice), the notorious money-lender with exorbitant interest rates, was craftily re-textualized by Armstrong into different scenarios—think Dracula and Hitler. Get this: the kicker is that Shylock is not a character in the play, merely the subject. It was this character who got people, centuries later, pointing fingers at Shakespeare, calling him anti-Semitic. Most people don’t realize that Shylock was, in actuality, a sympathetic character: “Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands...” And it’s this ambiguity, villain or victim, that gives Armstrong material for his modern play. (Tess Cutler)

Where: Lensic Performing Arts Center
Phone: 988-1234
Address: 211 W San Francisco St.
Website: http://www.lensic.com/