Shylock's Ghost

Story

Synopsis

As Man Booker Prize-winning writer Howard Jacobson retells The Merchant of Venice, 400 years after Shakespeare’s death, he travels with Alan Yentob to the ghetto in Venice to explore Shakespeare's most performed play - and in particular the character of the most divisive fictional Jew in history, Shylock. On their journey, Howard and Alan examine the evidence behind the charge of antisemitism against Shakespeare. How did his old Jew from Venice become such a useful propaganda tool during the Third Reich, and what was behind the absurd and infamous proposal to cut off a 'pound of flesh'?

Director

Colette Camden

Language

English

Country

United Kingdom

Release date

27 October 2015

Ensemble

Cast

• Howard Jacobson

  Self

• 

  Alan Yentob

  Self - Presenter

• 

  Antony Sher

  Self

• 

  Reg E. Cathey

  Self

• Anthony Julius

  Self

• Stephen Greenblatt

  Self

• 

  Jonathan Pryce

  Self