The Merchant of Venice "play Antonio as gay". Joseph Fiennes, however, who plays Bassanio, encouraged a homoerotic interpretation and, in fact, surprised Irons with the kiss on set, which was filmed in one take. Fiennes defended his choice, saying "I would never invent something before doing my detective work in the text. If you look at the choice of language … you'll read very sensuous language. That's the key for me in the relationship. The great thing about Shakespeare and why he's so difficult to pin down is his ambiguity. He's not saying they're gay or they're straight, he's leaving it up to his
The Hobart Shakespeareans Hobart Shakespeareans "one of the great Shakespeare troupes" in Los Angeles. Rafe and the Hobart Shakespeareans work every year to perform a Shakespeare play. The recent plays they have performed were "As You Like It" and "The Merchant of Venice". "The Hobart Shakespeareans" aired on PBS' "P.O.V." series in 2005. It was produced and directed by Mel Stuart. The Hobart Shakespeareans The Hobart Shakespeareans of Hobart Boulevard Elementary School is a 2005 documentary film that tells the story of the inspirational inner-city Los Angeles school teacher Rafe Esquith whose rigorous fifth-grade curriculum includes English, mathematics, geography, and literature. The pinnacle