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★★★★☆ Saul Rubinek plays himself in Mark Leiren-Young’s one-person play about a shut-down production of “The Merchant of Venice.”
To play Shylock or not to play Shylock? That is the question addressed in the new one-man play written by Mark Leiren-Young and starring Saul Rubinek as … himself. This unusual, very meta performance piece feels unfortunately relevant in our current cancel-culture age, in which some plays are too controversial to be performed and actors can’t play roles deviating from their own ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. While Playing Shylock, previously seen in Toronto, doesn’t begin to fully answer the many provocative questions it raises, its thoughtful and entertaining approach proves a rewarding 100 minutes.
Performed on a set dominated by a giant cross looming overhead, the production directed by Martin Kinch at first seems to be a performance of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, the second act of which is about to begin. Instead, veteran actor Rubinek, in full Shylock costume complete with payos enters from the wings, angrily shouts for the music to be turned off, and proceeds to inform us that “there’s been a slight change of plans.” It seems that the production has been cancelled because of community outrage over the play’s perceived antisemitism.
“Shut down in New York?” Rubinek rails. “New York? When did the culture wars turn into a circular firing squad?”
Rubinek then takes the opportunity not to exit the stage but to launch into a freewheeling discussion of the play’s historical importance. He informs us that Shylock was the first three-dimensional character in the history of English literature, and that, second only to Hamlet, the role is the most emotionally complex in all of Shakespeare. Well, not Shakespeare, actually, since he also explains that the real author of all those canonical works was actually Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford.
He also mentions many of the many legendary actors who’ve played the role, including Booth, Keane, Irving, Gielgud, and Olivier. None of whom were Jewish. And that he’s wanted to play it all his life, and that his father, who had a very limited acting career, desperately wanted to play it as well.
Rubinek and playwright Leiren-Young collaborated to weave in many details about the 77-year-old actor into the amusing proceedings, including a well-timed, amusing Frasier joke. Rubinek, who seems like a real mensch (or at least plays one very convincingly), includes numerous tidbits about his life and decades-long career. The son of Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivors, he was born in 1948 in a displaced-persons camp in Allied-occupied Germany. America wouldn’t accept them, so the family emigrated to Canada shortly after he was born.
He’s been a ubiquitous presence in film and television throughout his decades-long career, with such films as Wall Street, Unforgiven, True Romance, and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs among his credits. Amazingly, this is his first stage appearance in New York in 35 years.
Rubinek examines the controversy regarding Shylock, vigorously disputing the notion that the character is a “racist caricature.” He talks about the silliness of the term “Jewface.” As an example, he cites a show in which he appeared, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, in which many of the leading roles, including the title character, were played by non-Jews.
Along the way, he launches into several beautifully performed speeches from Merchant, including one delivered in Yiddish. The transitions, accompanied by dramatic music, are seamless, and his renditions demonstrate that he would be a formidable Shylock. It’s a pity that we’re not getting to see him play the role, but it’s no small consolation that we are getting to see him in Playing Shylock.
Playing Shylock opened October 23, 2025, at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center and runs through December 7. Tickets and information: tfana.org
