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
Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble the Prison Project (as well as co-directing QSE's production of "The Merchant of Venice". Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble The Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble (QSE) is an Australian theatre company. It is based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and is the resident theatre company of the University of Queensland. QSE's training draws heavily on the work of Kristin Linklater, Shakespeare & Company (USA), and Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed, as well as incorporating yoga, mindfulness, the Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais. QSE offers regular training to the public in the Linklater voice method, Speaking Shakespeare in Your Own Voice (personalising and acting Shakespeare), and