Shylock's Ghost

Overview

As Man Booker Prize-winning writer Howard Jacobson retells The Merchant of Venice, 400 years after Shakespeare’s death, he travels with Alan Yentob to the ghetto in Venice to explore Shakespeare's most performed play - and in particular the character of the most divisive fictional Jew in history, Shylock. On their journey, Howard and Alan examine the evidence behind the charge of antisemitism against Shakespeare. How did his old Jew from Venice become such a useful propaganda tool during the Third Reich, and what was behind the absurd and infamous proposal to cut off a 'pound of flesh'?

Directed by Colette Camden

Top cast

H

Howard Jacobson

Self

Alan Yentob

Self - Presenter

Antony Sher

Self

Reg E. Cathey

Self

A

Anthony Julius

Self

S

Stephen Greenblatt

Self

Jonathan Pryce

Self

Details