Due to the fire and road closures near the Gindi Auditorium this event will be relocated. Check out shakespearecenter.org/merchant for the latest information.

Legendary actor Al Pacino joins fellow Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush for Simply Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice, a one-night only staged benefit reading to support The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles.  Tony Award winner Dan Sullivan reunites Pacino (Shylock) with his Merchant of Venice Broadway stars Lily Rabe (Portia) and Hamish Linklater (Bassanio).  All three actors originally appeared in Sullivan’s 2010 production for the New York Shakespeare Festival’s summer festival in Central Park which quickly transferred to Broadway for a limited sold-out run.  Rush steps in to read the role of the Antonio and Keith David will read the roles of the Duke of Venice and Solerio.