The Merchant of Venice on (Polish) Stage: The Past (Tense)?

The aim of the article is to consider a production of The Merchant of Venice in Poland after the publication of Jan Gross’s Sąsiedzi [Neighbours] (2000), which rekindled, or perhaps started, the discussion on the nature of the Polish-Jewish relations. Furthermore, the play itself is considered diffi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jacek Fabiszak, Urszula Kizelbach
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Polish Association for the Study of English 2020-06-01
Series:Polish Journal of English Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:http://pjes.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/PJES_6-2_4_Fabiszak_Kizelbach.pdf
Description
Summary:The aim of the article is to consider a production of The Merchant of Venice in Poland after the publication of Jan Gross’s Sąsiedzi [Neighbours] (2000), which rekindled, or perhaps started, the discussion on the nature of the Polish-Jewish relations. Furthermore, the play itself is considered difficult in the post-Holocaust era. For these reasons, it seems interesting to discuss Szymon Kaczmarek’s production (2019) and the director’s handling of this dramatic and cultural ‘hot potato’. Although Kaczmarek does not refer to Gross’s publication directly, yet he uses the fate of Jewish and female characters in the play to comment on the marginalised in present-day Poland.
ISSN:2545-0131
2543-5981