The Merchant (play) The Merchant (play) The Merchant is a 1976 play in two acts by the English dramatist Arnold Wesker. It is based on William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", and focus on the Jewish Shylock character, that play's principal antagonist. Wesker began writing the play after seeing a 1973 performance by Laurence Olivier. It premiered in Stockholm in 1976 and was later renamed "Shylock". The play was meant to premiere on Broadway in 1977, but the Broadway production was cancelled due to the death of the plays' lead, multiple Tony Award winner Zero Mostel. Wesker had high hopes that the play
The Masque at Kenilworth and the ancient Greek poet Arion, who arrives astride a dolphin. A performance of the "summer night" scene from "The Merchant of Venice" is given, and then the Queen is sung lovingly to sleep. The "Merchant of Venice" scene is anachronistic, since Shakespeare was a young boy in 1575, but Chorley notes in his preface that Scott had also anachronistically used Shakespeare material. Chorley's effort was ridiculed as "trivial". In addition, Chorley faced much criticism over a misquote of "The Merchant of Venice" in No. 7, "Scene from "The Merchant of Venice"". Chorley's line reads: "Still quiring to the young-eyed