The Merchant of Venice

In February of 2025, Drama and Theatre Club children visited Liverpool’s Playhouse Theatre to see Shakespeare’s classic tale of The Merchant of Venice.  Starring Tracy-Ann Oberman as Shylock – and direct from selling out at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the West End – the action was transported to London of the 1930s.

Tensions in London’s East End are rising and Shylock, a resilient single mother and hard-working businesswoman, is desperate to protect her daughter’s future. When the charismatic merchant Antonio comes to her for a loan, a high-stakes deal is struck. Will Shylock take her revenge, and who will pay the ultimate price?

As ever, Malvern children displayed impeccable theatre etiquette.  Comments from adjacent audience members – about the children’s exemplary behaviour – were many and generous.  Close to the end of the play, Tracy-Ann Oberman / Shylock broke the fourth wall to describe, in her own voice, her family’s experience of racism in Liverpool in the 1930s – and how the good people of our city resisted such prejudice.  This final, dramatic scene drew an audible ‘wow’ from the audience – and drove home the message that we are ‘stronger together’.  A sentiment echoed by all at Malvern.