Arnold Wesker’s Shylock transformed The Merchant of Venice into an anti-Semitic parable: Shylock (Henry Goodman) was a generous man, well-read and ever-eager to share his learning with Antonio (Ronald Pickup). The two of them formed an unbreakable bond of friendship, which appeared to guarantee harmony between their respective families. Unfortunately they lived in a world where Christians and Jews lived in separate communities, and the Jews copped the blame for everything – financial disaster, poverty, social unrest. The idea of the pound of flesh started off as a joke – a kind of compact forged between Antonio and Shylock, with neither of them having the least intention of honouring it. But eventually the case came to court: Portia (Juliet Stevenson) exonerated Antonio, while Shylock had to choose between the death penalty, or permanent exile from Venice, as well as having all his books confiscated. The play ended with him departing for Jerusalem. I cannot deny that Wesker approached his subject with conviction, demonstrating in the process how Shakespeare’s Merchant has contemporary relevance for anyone acquainted with the Holocaust. On the other hand, I do think that David Hutchinson’s production dragged a little – perhaps the play could have benefited from some judicious pruning.