October 26 | 7:30pm (PT) | Lincoln Recital Hall, Portland State University | Tickets are free. Reservations are strongly recommended.
In “Shakespeare in Performance,” Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner takes up the question: “Why perform The Merchant of Venice?” The fraught history of this troubling play has morphed from performing it as a comedy, championing young lovers who outwit the murderous plot of Shylock, a Jewish money-lender, to staging it as a tragedy of social prejudices and institutional injustices that spur inhumane actions. As the play has been cut, amended, restaged, and reimagined, its focus has shifted to encompass questions of gender and sexuality, race, and economics, alongside the religious and ethnic dynamics that provide a shifting mirror for audiences’ fears and fantasies. This lecture will interweave research in Shakespeare production history with performances by actors from theatre dybbuk.
Dr. Pollack-Pelzner is a consulting scholar on theatre dybbuk’s production of The Merchant of Venice (Annotated), or In Sooth I Know Not Why I Am So Sad. This lecture is being presented as part of Shakespeare’s First Folio: 1623–2023, a city-wide celebration of the 400th anniversary of the publication of the first folio.
theatre dybbuk is in residency in Portland through a partnership that includes the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education (OJMCHE), Mittleman Jewish Community Center (MJCC), Eastside Jewish Commons (EJC), and Portland State University (PSU), with the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland acting as the hub partner. This event is supported in part by a grant from The Covenant Foundation. You can find a complete list of the theatre dybbuk Portland performances and workshops here.
theatre dybbuk creates provocative new works that blend physical theatre with poetry and music for exciting, utterly singular live events. The company explores the rich world of Jewish history, building lyrical performances that illuminate the universal human experience for contemporary audiences. With an in-depth development process that can range from a few months to three years, Artistic Director Aaron Henne builds each piece with a cast of dedicated professional actors, designers, musicians, and scholars. The resulting works, from the dark and visceral dance theatre of cave… a dance for Lilith to the shadowy and immersive hell prepared: a ritual exorcism inspired by kabbalistic principles, performed within a dominant cultural context, are challenging and beautiful to behold.