Étonner l'œil: Le Merchand de Venise adapté par Julia Pascal

Julia Pascal's adaptation of The Merchant of Venice exposes anti-semitic appropriations of this play and defuses potential anti-semitic re-readings of the play by framing it within the gaze of Holocaust surviver Ruth Posner, who plays the role of Sarah. The play starts as Sarah is about to be shown around the Venetian ghetto. The tour never gets underway, because the water starts to rise and Sarah and her tour guide end up watching a stranded company of actors who rehears the Merchant of Venice. Ruth/Sarah's self-conscious act of viewing defuses one of the most problematic moments in the play, when Shylock whets his knife and prepares to carve a pound of flesh out of Antonio's bosom in the trial scene.