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Shylock's Ghost

Alan Yentob travels to the ghetto in Venice with award-winning novelist Howard Jacobson as he embarks on a retelling of Shakespeare's most performed play, The Merchant of Venice.

Alan Yentob travels to the ghetto in Venice with award-winning novelist Howard Jacobson as he embarks on a retelling of Shakespeare's most performed play, The Merchant of Venice. Through a series of lively - often fiery - interviews, they examine the charge of anti-Semitism against Shakespeare, whose character Shylock remains one of the most odious and divisive fictional Jews in history.

How did the moneylender from Venice become such a useful propaganda tool in Nazi Germany? And how much of a liberty will Jacobson be taking when he uproots the action to modern-day Alderley Edge, and audaciously reinterprets the infamous 'pound of flesh'?

Interviewees include Antony Sher, Anthony Julius and Stephen Greenblatt.

1 hour, 10 minutes

Last on

Sat 6 Feb 2016 03:25

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Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Alan Yentob
Interviewed Guest Howard Jacobson
Participant Antony Sher
Participant Anthony Julius
Participant Stephen Greenblatt
Director Colette Camden
Series Editor Alan Yentob

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