The Maori Merchant of Venice in which the Jew (Shylock) has a long memory of oppression, but revenge is not so sweet." Valerie Wayne, in "The Contemporary Pacific", underlined the apparent parallel drawn by the film between the oppression suffered by Shylock because of his Judaism and the sometimes violent subjugation of Māori by the colonial authorities in nineteenth century New Zealand. Reviewing "The Maori Merchant of Venice" for "Te Kete Ipurangi", Lana Simmons-Donaldson described it as "an educational, even motivational tool" for Māori language learners, and provided glowing praise: The film won the audience award for best feature at the Hawaii International Film Festival
Shakespeare by the Sea (Australia) Shakespeare by the Sea (Australia) Shakespeare by the Sea was a summer outdoor event held at Balmoral Beach in Sydney's northern suburbs, using a band rotunda as a backdrop, that ran in summer (January to early March) for twenty-five seasons, from 1987 to 2011. The event was started in 1987 by David MacSwan, pre-dating other similarly named events such as Shakespeare by the Sea, Halifax, which was founded in 1994. Each season featured two plays, mostly from Shakespeare's canon including, "Henry IV" (parts 1 and 2), "Romeo and Juliet", "King Lear", "The Merchant of Venice", "The Two Gentlemen of Verona",