Upcoming Project: The Merchant of Venice Teaser

Launcelot Gobbo (Sinead Mooney) is a budding playwright constantly playing out scenarios, correcting versions of dialogue, and observing the behaviour of those around her - all the better to include them in her latest draft. She was once a boy, before moving to Venice from the countryside to pursue her dreams of being a professional playwright. Now she finds she has to take what work she can, even if it is in the House of Shylock, where she can find little time to write.

Watch above a snippet Act 2 Scene 2 featuring a monologue from Launcelot.

The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare's most underrated plays. It is arguably his most experimental work in which physical staging and being present in the audience becomes crucial to understanding what is going on, and where he stretches the traditional plot structure of comedy to hold tragic characters and tragic outcomes. Above all, he relies on our imagination (and not on our emotion, intellect, or instinct) to understand what is happening with the ring plot that ends the play.

Kildare Youth Theatre will stage a complete version of the play this July. We are delighted to partner with the brand new SoEarth Studio in Kill, where 4 outdoor performances will take place on 6th and 7th July. A recorded version will be created indoors in a theatre and offered to schools in September. Information about the venue and how to book tickets will be released very soon.

The Merchant of Venice is directed by Peter Hussey, and features a strong cast of young people, led by Kim Morrison (Portia), Joe Brown (Bassanio), and Douglas Morrison (Antonio), with Oğuzhan Şahin and Luke O' Brien sharing the role of Shylock. They are supported by Lauren Giltrap, Clara Quinto, Athina Fragkou, Kashmala Aamir, Eoghan Kenna, Marcel Szameta, Oisín Fletcher-Newman, Nicole Reid, Sinéad Mooney, Tara Mooney, Marco Mazza, Iona Morrison, Megan Tuohey, Mia Devine, Louis Javaherian and Aidan Forde. Some of the cast are studying the play in Junior Cert, while others are in Senior Cycle. They are supported by members who are in university.

The production is stage managed by Nikos Chatzakis, one of our European Solidarity Corps volunteers. Other ESC volunteers are Athina, Oğuzhan and Marco who are in the cast.

For further information on our upcoming The Merchant of Venice production: info[at]crookedhouse[dot]ie