Shylock, the lender, gives a loan to Antonio, the Venetian merchant, stipulating in the contract: if he does not receive the loan on time, he will cut a pound of flesh from Antonio's body. Is Shakespeare's world-famous play, The Merchant of Venice, which has been performed around the world for centuries, anti-Semitic? Or is comedy merely suitable for amplifying existing prejudices? Could the playwright have known Jews at all, while they had already been expelled from England at that time 300 years ago?
The ghost of William Shakespeare appeared at Spinoza Theater in Budapest for this performance and the play's writer Gábor Lackó makes a witty proposal to the English playwright on how the two of them should rewrite the work together in order to rid The Merchant of Venice of the accusation of anti-Semitism - perhaps due to a misunderstanding.
The original text on which the play is based was written within the framework of and on behalf of the Shakespeare/37 project. (In Hungarian with English Subtitles)
Presented by: Antal Cserna
Playwright: Lili Fabacsovics
Written by: Gábor Lackó
Director: András Surányi
Producer: Anna Sándor.
About the Event
Featured Guests:
The Spinoza Theatre, a small private theater on Dob Street in Budapest, is now in its third decade.
The primary philosophy of the Spinoza Theater is to teach while having fun. The theater should either teach or entertain, but if possible, both at the same time. A good example of this is the 10-year-long drama series, our so-called "study dramas": the dramatic life and work of great people whose activities are not really known through theatrical means. Previous members of the theater series: Theodor Herzl - historical knowledge, Josef Pulitzer - press and democracy history, Sándor Ferenczi - the Hungarian Freud (psychoanalysis history), Imre Kálmán - the operetta king/music history, Frank Capa, the world-famous photographer - 100-year history of photography, Who was Bácsi Lakner? - theatre history, The Son of Latabárné (also theater history). The next member of the series is in preparation: Goldberger Rhapsody.
The Spinoza Theater is a small theater with a capacity of 70 to 80 people. In order to enlarge this, video recordings were made of some of the performances, which are distributed via e-Színház. Through the e-theatre, they have also immortalized performances whose characters are no longer alive (for example, József Székhelyi's portrayal of Freud in the drama Ferenczi, the Hungarian Freud).
Operas
Their most successful operas were: Poppera, Spinoza and Rembrandt, Mata Hari and Frida.
Free street pleasure concerts. Exhibitions
The Spinoza Theater interprets its theatrical and cultural activities broadly. It is almost unique in the cultural history of Budapest that a non-governmental organization like the Spinoza Theater has been giving a series of free street pleasure concerts for years.
Drama series of exciting women
(Mata Hari, Frida, Sisi, Albina, ZsaZsa, Renée Erdős)
The Spinoza Theater also has a women's drama series. They started with a musical drama about Frida Kahlo. Mata Hari lives in the public consciousness as a dancer and a spy, when she was neither. The events from Sisi's life were also presented, which had remained secret from the public until now. Albina, the woman behind the Nobel Prize, was the wife of Nobel Prize-winning author Imre Kertész for 42 years. Her life path was special... In our drama about Zsa Zsa, i.e. Zsazsa Gábor, we showed why ZsaZsa actually had 9 husbands and 16 lovers.
Spinoza Jewish Festival
Since the Spinoza Theater is in the old Jewish quarter, the Spinoza Jewish Festival is organized every year. In 2024, the 22nd Spinoza Jewish Festival took place.
New genre: Tere-fere theatre
Sensitive social problems are presented in the form of "terefere", but in a theatrical 'dress'. This really requires new kinds of dramaturgical and directorial solutions.
Spinoza - Doctrine.
With the help of biblical history, literature, visual arts, and music. More than 100 lectures by Péter Popper (psychology) and Ágnes Heller (philosophy) each, as well as more than 50 literary history discussions by Tamás Ungvári served knowledge and learning. Unfortunately, none of the three are alive anymore.
Over the past 22 years, the Spinoza Theater has had 3,600 performances (often with two performances per night) with approximately a quarter of a million spectators over the years.
