The Merchant of Venice Symposium

"…A pound of flesh… nearest his heart… so says the bond…"

The Merchant of Venice is an eternally relevant study of justice, mercy, and religious division.

It's a story Shakespeare couldn't resist: an unfathomable sadness in a man's heart; the mysterious terrors of the ocean; hate crime and religious intolerance; money, and our willingness to gamble with our lives – things that still hurt and hinder us to this day in our struggle to know the difference between mercy and justice.

The Merchant of Venice features some of Shakespeare's most extraordinary characters, such as Portia, the brilliant young woman who dresses as a man to save a merchant's life, or Bassanio, the man with nothing who would have it all at any cost, or Jessica, the girl who would trade her mother's and father's memories for a monkey.

And at the centre of them all, in the court of Venice, stands a Jewish moneylender, Shylock, legally demanding a pound of flesh from a man who is willing to have his heart torn out of his body as a gesture of love for his friend.

Sport for Jove's performance symposium offers a unique and thrilling opportunity for students to dissect this formidable play.

Image credit: Seiya Taguchi