“The Merchant of Venice” to be performed at the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival

VERMILLION, SD (KTIV) – Grab your lawn chair to enjoy a night of tragedy, comedy and Shakespeare.

The South Dakota Shakespeare Festival will put on “The Merchant of Venice” at Prentis Park, in Vermillion, South Dakota. Performances start at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 6 and will run until Sunday, June 9.

The South Dakota Shakespeare Festival is bringing this story to life with the North Dakota Shakespeare Festival.

Beer, wine and other refreshments will be available for sale at showtime. The festival says “The Merchant of Venice” marks one of Shakespeare’s most intricate tales of comedy and tragedy to create a world where not everything is as it seems.

Before opening night, SDSF says they would like to warn the public that the play does contain theatrical elements of bigotry and antisemitism.

“Please be aware that this play includes theatricalizations of bigotry and antisemitism with the purpose of generating productive and restorative dialogue surrounding these challenging issues.” said the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival, “SDSF and NDSF are committed to creating places and opportunities for us to process how art and life collide.”

For audience members who wish to participate in these conversations, SDSF will hold “Community Building Conversations.” The event will include a talkback about the history of the production and the time period while focusing on how it relates to the 21st century.

The discussion will be from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the W. H Over Museum on Monday, June 3. SDSF says they will also hold a post-show exchange with the production’s creative team on Friday, June 7 and Sunday, June 9th.

Besides the production and conversation, SDSF will have other events take place from June 2 through June 9th.

For more information, visit www.sdshakespearefestival.org or follow the festival’s Facebook page.

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