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 Merchant of Venice (opera) The Merchant of Venice (opera) The Merchant of Venice is an opera by André Tchaikowsky (1935–1982) to a libretto, based on the Shakespeare play, by John O'Brien. Written between 1968 and 1982, it was first performed in 2013 at the Bregenz Festival. The British premiere was presented by the Welsh National Opera in September 2016. Tchaikowsky, who was based in England after the 1950s, was a great admirer of Shakespeare, and was able to recite large stretches of his works from memory. His compositions include settings of seven of Shakespeare's "Sonnets", songs from "The Tempest", and incidental music for "Hamlet".