A man and a woman, the man holding his chest while on his knees. A large, white, Venetian-style bridge. Three stained glass panels depict a heart, scales and coins. These are the three images that greeted the audience of Hold Thy Peace’s fall production of “The Merchant of Venice: A Reimagining” over the past weekend. Directed by Laurel Kane ’26, this production took one of Shakespeare’s most infamous comedies and transformed it into a powerful piece of dramatic theater that left audiences in awe. 

 Before diving into the actual content of the HTP show — which, if you want a spoiler-free review, was fantastic — I would be remiss if I did not mention the controversies about the unaltered version of Merchant. 

The original show is an incredibly antisemitic comedy, and there is a lot of challenging content surrounding the framing of Shylock, the Jewish moneylender. Shylock in the original text is a vengeful moneylender who demands a pound of Antonio’s flesh if Antonio is unable to repay his debt. Shylock is framed as the villain of the show, being attacked and harassed throughout and eventually “defeated” by being forced to renounce his Judaism. Due to the intense antisemitism, along with other scenes of abusive relationships, “The Merchant of Venice” has been heavily critiqued in the 400 years since it was first written. In modern interpretations the show, has been presented as a drama, with Shylock taking on a more tragic-hero and victim role in the story.

HTP went a step further with their modern interpretation, cutting several scenes or sections of scenes to focus the audience on the most critical points of the show. Their emphasis lay in how Shylock was mistreated and why he harbored revenge, Bassanio’s love for Portia and how Shylock’s daughter Jessica navigated being both Jewish and a woman in an era that approved of neither. There were also additional scenes or parts of scenes — created by the production crew — inserted to keep the flow of the show moving and to leave a lasting impression on the audience. 

The performers in this show were nothing short of spectacular. Phoenix Yuan ’26, who played Shylock, did an impressive job of portraying the many mixed emotions of the character in this version of the show. Yuan’s Shylock never felt like an unsympathetic villain, but rather as though he was truly so broken from being harassed for so long that he really believed a pound of flesh was a reasonable exchange should Antonio be unable to pay his debt. At the end of the show, when Shylock is baptized and has his Judaism stripped from him, a scene not shown in the original Shakespeare play, Yuan’s performance is nothing short of heartwrenching.

 Xavian Plasencia ’28, who played Antonio, was wonderful to watch perform, especially when he shared the stage with John Henry Holcomb is ’27 Bassanio. Their chemistry was noticeable from the very beginning of the show, and it carried on throughout the entire production, lifting every scene that they shared. It took no effort to believe that Antonio and Bassanio were subconsciously — or consciously — in love with each other, and the conversations between the two characters flowed easily and clearly for the audience.

In terms of chemistry, however, nothing can match the electric energy between Jateja Spriggs’ ’28 Portia and Casadie Parent’s ’27 Nerissa. From the first scene that these two characters are in, the audience was enraptured. Portia and Nerissa felt completely natural, and there was never a moment when either actress seemed lost in what she was saying. Spriggs commanded both the script and stage in every scene she was in, lifting every actor to a new level of performance, and Parent’s memorable moments on stage made the audience laugh or connect with the show in a new light, such as when she showed Nerissa’s shock at Portia’s idea of pretending to be men in the court in Venice. 

Maya Gonta’s ’28 Jessica and Noam Radwin’s ’28 Lorenzo were also great together for the entire show. However, their performances in the final scene, where a drunk Lorenzo shouts at the recently converted Jessica, were elevated to new heights that reminded the audience of all the pain that Jessica had been through during the show.

Katlyn Farrin ’28 and Em Clemens ’28 brought some of the comedy elements back from the original “Merchant” production, which occasionally clashed with the darker tone of the dramatic scenes, but the pair’s portrayals of Gratiano and Salanio were absolutely hysterical and usually gave the audience much-needed relief from the weight many scenes carried.

Of course, even in this reimagining, the antisemitism of the show cannot be ignored. It is framed in a more negative light, thanks to the alterations made to the script, but some characters, such as Amadeus Coleman’s ’28 Launcelot Gobbo the clown, are strikingly antisemitic. Amadeus’s Launcelot was a Shakespearean-era Joker, with a manic voice and unpredictable arm swinging, hopping and running around the stage in a monologue that completely shattered the fourth wall. “Merchant” was already a very physical show, with lots of people jumping and running and hunching over to make sure that the audience understood the meaning behind the old English, but Launcelot was a completely different form, creepily hovering around the other actors and waiting to shout a line. In some ways, the excessive insanity that emanated from Launcelot softened the blow of his harsh words about Shylock and Jessica, as he came off as a madman rather than a more mentally stable jester.

From truly jaw-dropping lighting choices — a shoutout to Ciel Shandell ’26 and Eva Levine ’28 — to a beautiful set designed by Dalya Lessem Elnecave ’27 and Ian Chen ’27, fabulous costume  — designed by Eva Sanborn ’26 and Ellen Richards ’27  — and incredible acting from every performer, Hold Thy Peace created a wonderfully complex, nuanced and thought-provoking experience that navigated very challenging topics in a fantastic way. Congratulations to the entire cast and crew on a wonderful show!