The Merchant of Venice (opera) 2013. Keith Warner directed the production, which was also supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Grand Theatre – National Opera, Warsaw. The opera libretto follows the plot of the original play very closely, generally using Shakespeare's own words. Many of the minor characters are excised. Act I introduces the melancholy merchant Antonio, his friend Bassanio who asks Antonio for money to back his wooing of Portia, the Jewish moneylender Shylock, his daughter Jessica and her Gentile lover, Lorenzo. Despite evident mutual personal animosity, Shylock agrees to lend Antonio 3000 ducats against the pledge of a pound of the
Shakespeare Tavern of six years, The Atlanta Shakespeare Company produced "Romeo and Juliet", "Much Ado about Nothing", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "The Merchant of Venice", "Twelfth Night", "The Two Gentlemen of Verona", and "The Taming of the Shrew" in the back room at Manuel's, and at the nearby Excelsior Mill, attracting national attention with articles in "The Wall Street Journal", "The New York Times", and coverage by CBS and CNN. In 1990, The Atlanta Shakespeare Company opened the Shakespeare Tavern at 599 Peachtree Street. Since the Tavern opened, The Atlanta Shakespeare Company has produced over 73 plays, presenting 1,600 plus performances, including