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
Shakespeare by the Sea, Newfoundland the Sea Festival Inc. is a registered charity (No. 891781841RR0001) with the Canada Revenue Agency and is a member of the Shakespeare Theatre Association and the Institute of Outdoor Drama.<br><br> 1993 The Tempest 1994 King Lear 1995 Twelfth Night 1996 Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet 1997 Macbeth, Hamlet, I Hate Hamlet and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead 1998 A Midsummer Night's Dream 1999 Much Ado About Nothing and Richard III 2000 The Mousetrap, Julius Caesar (play), Love's Labour's Lost 2001 Dial M for Murder, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merchant of Venice and A Streetcar Named Desire (play) 2002 The