Portia, a wealthy heiress of Belmont, is forced to set her suitors a challenge. The winner will win her hand in marriage; the losers will lose her hand and much more. In Venice, the epicentre of consumption, speculation and debt, Bassanio borrows money from his friend Antonio to finance his attempt. Antonio, in turn, takes out a loan from the moneylender Shylock. The loan will be repaid when Antonio’s ships return to the city. But if the ships fail to return, and the money cannot be repaid, Antonio will give to Shylock a pound of his own flesh. And they do fail. And Shylock will have his ‘bond’.
Jonathan Pryce
as Shylock
Dominic Mafham
as Antonio
Rachel Pickup
as Portia
Daniel Lapaine
as Bassanio
Douglas Brian Martin
as Salarino
Regé-Jean Page
as Solanio
Ben Lamb
as Lorenzo
David Sturzaker
as Gratiano
Dorothea Myer-Bennett
as Nerissa
Stefan Adegbola
as Launcelot Gobbo
Philip Cox
as Balthasar / Chus
Phoebe Pryce
as Jessica
