Olivier Award-winning actor Guy Masterson is returning to Perth to play the title role in Shylock.

Following his visit to Perth last year to play all 69 roles in Under Milk Wood, Olivier Award-winning actor Guy Masterson – the great-nephew of Richard Burton – is making a return in another multi-award-winning solo play.

Shylock is about Shakespeare’s most controversial character in The Merchant of Venice, one of only two Jewish men in all of the Bard’s works.

 At the time Shakespeare wrote the play, Jews were popularly depicted as comic villains and, on the surface, Shylock is no different. But Shakespeare humanises Shylock and gives him very good reason to be a revengeful villain.

What makes him such a controversial character is that he demands a pound of flesh in repayment for an unpaid debt and, in doing so, effectively demands the life of Antonio, the merchant in the title.

Because of this background, The Merchant of Venice has often been described as an anti-Semitic play – Shylock questions this and contextualises the history surrounding Jews and Jews on stage. In doing so, the play becomes a powerfully dramatic historical documentary.

Shylock plays at the All Saints’ College Centre for Performing Arts at 7.15pm February 9 – tickets are $30, $25 concession. A question-and-answer session will be held beforehand at 6.30pm. Book at
http://www.trybooking.com/233998