The Merchant of Venice in the court of the Duke of Venice. Shylock refuses Bassanio's offer of 6,000 ducats, twice the amount of the loan. He demands his pound of flesh from Antonio. The Duke, wishing to save Antonio but unable to nullify a contract, refers the case to a visitor. He identifies himself as Balthasar, a young male "doctor of the law", bearing a letter of recommendation to the Duke from the learned lawyer Bellario. The doctor is Portia in disguise, and the law clerk who accompanies her is Nerissa, also disguised as a man. As Balthasar, Portia repeatedly asks Shylock to show
Shylock (play) Merchant of Venice"), was translated for a production in Denmark and has been staged twice by the original actor, Berner, in Venice. The play focuses on a Jewish actor named Jon Davies, who is featured as Shylock in a production of Shakespeare’s "The Merchant of Venice". Jon addresses his audience at a “talk back” session, after the play is closed abruptly due to controversy over the play’s alleged antisemitism. Davies is portrayed both in and out of character, presenting and stripping down the layers between character and actor. In the comedy "The Merchant of Venice", the character of Shylock lends