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You may be familiar with William Shakespeare’s Play The Merchant of Venice. It’s a 16thcentury play in which a merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. It is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. Grace Arts, FL. a Florida Non-Profit theater company, has assembled a talented cast of young performers to tell this Shakespearean Classic in a uniquely adapted fashion featuring costume designs by Miami’s Fashion Institute and talented South Florida actors of color.
‘Merchants of Venice’ will be one of the first productions at the new Victory Black Box Theatre in Fort Lauderdale located on Sistrunk Boulevard. It debuts on July 7th, 2022 running through July 10th. Clare Vickery, Director of Grace Arts FL., said the inspiration for the adaptation of Merchant of Venice came years ago while researching the Underground Railroad. “Florida, or ‘La Florida’ as it was known as a Spanish territory in the 17–1800’s, was an early refuge for thriving maroon communities and a pathway to freedom for black and brown people escaping colonial slavery but later the State would become a Jim Crow South stronghold. Miami and Fort Lauderdale have historic African American commercial districts and neighborhoods with many successful and iconic cultural sites and businesses that no longer stand but were in full bloom in the 1930s through the 60s.
Our take ‘Merchants of Venice’ replaces Shakespeare’s Venice and Belmont with a South Florida Black Renaissance beginning after The Great Depression. Shylock, played by veteran actor Kent Chambers -Wilson, represents the survivalist tactics of black elders who managed to create wealth despite the constraints of the devastating economic crash and racist policies,” said Vickery.
Antonio, Bass(anio), Lorenzo (young men with modest means but big dreams), and the daughters of black wealth — Portia, a wealthy heiress, and her friend Nerissa with Jessica (Shylock’s daughter) — reject the guardrails of the past and want to forge fast roads to full civil rights; they use unrestrained creativity and risk-taking to achieve goals of freedom rather than conserving the wealth of their elders.
The religious tensions of Bard’s 16th-century play are replaced with the brimming and broiling optimism and fierce struggle for freedom by 20th-century black merchants and their families written and directed by Darius V. Daughtry, a local writer, and director, educator, and Founder/Artistic Director of Art Prevails Project.
A surprise ending to the story is guided by a blues-playing Narrator (Douglas “Xaire Goodridge) who reveals the real lives of black creatives and entrepreneurs embodied in the characters. Costumes designed by consulting designer Taofeek Abijako (Head of State) with Miami Fashion Institute (Asanyah Davidson and Miami Dade College) feature cloaks evoking the classical and contemporary twists of the production and the superhero strength of the real people who established Overtown and the Sistrunk communities.
Merchants of Venice Cast:
David Hepburn
Denzel McCausland
Marlo Rodriguez
Ayomi Russell
Yamille Mercedes
Kent Chambers-Wilson
Douglas “Xaire” Goodridge
Peter Galman Shakespearean Coach and Consulting Director
What: Merchants of Venice a play by Grace Arts, Florida
Where: Victory Black Box Theatre on Sistrunk Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale
When: Opens July 7th, 2022
Tickets and More information: Available on Eventbrite
About Grace Arts Florida
The Grace Arts Center (GAC) mission is to network and connect three distinct areas of general programming resulting in more extensive cultural collaborations and revitalization of South Florida communities through the arts and humanities. Projects feature exhibits, performances, and urban design engagements by leading Innovators of multiple disciplines to entertain, educate and extend services annually to communities with less access to cultural experiences and the liberal arts.
