Pressing the (Pound of) Flesh: STC's "The Merchant of Venice," reviewed.
Chris Klimek
John Douglas Thompson’s revelatory and captivating Shylock is not the problem. (Henry Grossman)
I struggled with the John Douglas Thompson-starring The Merchant of Venice at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. I think director Arin Arbus intended that we should. There’s no arguing with Thompson’s revelatory Shylock, but I wonder if all that power could’ve been shaped into something more, well, directed had Arbus done some liberal cutting. That’s the précis of my WCP review.