Overview

Boika Sokolova and Kirilka Stavreva's second edition of the stage history of The Merchant of Venice interweaves into the chronology of James Bulman's first edition richly contextualised chapters on Max Reinhardt, Peter Zadek, and the first production of the play in Mandatory Palestine, directed by Leopold Jessner. While the focus of the book is on post-1990s productions across Europe and the USA, and on film, the Segue provides a broad survey of the interpretative shifts in the play's performance from the 1930s to the second decade of the twenty-first century. Individual chapters explore productions by Peter Zadek, Trevor Nunn, Robert Sturua, Edward Hall, Rupert Goold, Daniel Sullivan, and Karin Coonrod. An extensive film section including silent film offers close analysis of Don Selwyn's Te Tangata Whai Rawa o Weniti and Michael Radford's adaptation. Accessible and engaging, the book will interest students, academics, and general readers.

Full Product Details

Author:   Boika Sokolova ,  Kirilka Stavreva
Publisher:   Manchester University Press
Imprint:   Manchester University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 24.00cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 21.60cm
Weight:   0.438kg
ISBN:  

9781526195401

ISBN 10:   1526195402
Pages:   376
Publication Date:   20 January 2026
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available, will be POD  
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Table of Contents

PART I I An Elizabethan Merchant: performance and context II Henry Irving and the great tradition III Wayward genius in the high temple of bardolotry: Theodore Komisarjevsky IV Aesthetes in a rugger club: Jonathan Miller and Laurence Olivier V The BBC Merchant: diminishing returns VI Cultural stereotyping and audience response: Bill Alexander and Antony Sher VII Shylock and the pressures of history PART II Segue The Merchant of Venice: pressures of war, ideology, and the crises of late capitalism I Magical spectacles and nightmarish times: Max Reinhardt’s productions of The Merchant of Venice II Peter Zadek’s challenges to the post-war German legacy of The Merchant of Venice III A post-Holocaust balancing act: The Merchant of Venice directed by Trevor Nunn at the National Theatre, London (1999) IV Desperate outsiders in a money-drunk world: The Merchant of Venice directed by Daniel Sullivan (2010) and Rupert Goold (2011) V Crises of the new millennium: The Merchant of Venice directed by Robert Sturua (2000) and Edward Hall (2009) VI The Merchant of Venice on film VII The search for justice: The Merchant of Venice in Mandatory Palestine (1936) and the Venetian Ghetto (2016) Appendix A Some significant twentieth- and twenty-first century productions of The Merchant of Venice Appendix B Major actors and creative staff for productions discussed Bibliography Index -- .

Reviews

‘James Bulman’s 1991 investigation of The Merchant of Venice in performance was outstanding. Now Boika Sokolova and Kirilka Stavreva have added a whole new range of brilliant and exhilarating studies, from Max Reinhardt in 1906 to the Venetian Ghetto in 2016, from 1936 Palestine to post-war Germany, to 21st century stage and screen, adding up to a transformative exploration of this endlessly troubling play.’ —Peter Holland, University of Notre Dame -- .

Author Information

Boika Sokolova is Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame (USA) in England Kirilka Stavreva is Professor of English at Cornell College, USA

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