Karin Coonrod’s production of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice at the Kasser Theater (September 19 – October 1, 2017) is the starting point for a conversation on immigration and religion as central issues in our contemporary world. Coonrod’s re-visioning of Shakespeare’s classic on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the formation of the Venice ghetto stemmed from a desire to make the play speak to forms of otherness and exclusion across time and space. Focused on Coonrod’s own illustration of her project, its staging in the Venice ghetto and now its adaptation for the Kasser Theater, the conversation will also include presentations by Alessandro Cassin on the Jewish Ghetto in Venice, and by Teresa Fiore on immigration and exclusion as both general categories and specific practices.

This panel highlights the global relevance of Shakespeare’s play – recently described by Stephen Greenblatt as “a cure against xenophobia” (see article below) – and in particular of Coonrod’s approach to it, characterized by multi-lingualism and ethnic, racial, and gender diversity. The conversation aims at showing how at a time of socio-political uncertainty for the Western World in its experience of “the other,” the play as well as the Venice ghetto where it was staged have precious ethical and cultural lessons to share about human rights, and cross-cultural and interfaith dialogue. It is in this context that Venice can function as a metaphor of the world.

Online RSVP required by Monday, September 25th
https://www.montclair.edu/chss/inserra-chair/events/2017-18/merchant-of-venice/