The Merchant of Venice is classified as one of Shakespeare’s comedies but with its unpleasant strain of anti-Semitism it is considered one of his problem plays and one of the trickier to direct. How to pitch the portrayal of Shylock, the Jewish merchant who demands his pound of flesh yet speaks eloquently about discrimination and how he has been pushed to seek revenge in his famous “Hath not a Jew eyes speech”? How to handle the ugly behaviour of the Christians in the courtroom scene when Shylock is outsmarted? How to balance the cruelty in the play with its lighter side and happy ending (for all but Shylock)?

^{Mitchell Butel and Felicity McKay. Photograph © Prudence Upton}

In this production for Bell Shakespeare, director Anne-Louise Sarks has done an excellent job of finding that balance. She plays the comedy up, eliciting plenty of genuine laughs. Occasionally there’s a bit too much mugging but overall the exuberant physical comedy works a treat. And kudos to Jacob Warner who actually manages to make the clown servant Launcelot Gobbo funny.

Yet Sarks doesn’t shy away from the anti-Semitism, in fact she highlights it – at...