{"id":338612,"date":"2026-06-16T17:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T17:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/338612\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T17:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T17:22:08","slug":"young-shakespeare-program-brings-the-merchant-of-venice-to-life-in-austin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/338612\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Shakespeare program brings The Merchant of Venice to life in Austin"},"content":{"rendered":"

For nearly two decades, Austin Shakespeare\u2019s Young Shakespeare<\/a> program has given emerging actors the opportunity to bring classic works to life, and this summer the group is taking on one of Shakespeare\u2019s most debated plays, The Merchant of Venice. The production blends youthful energy with centuries-old text, offering Austin audiences a fresh look at a story filled with conflict, complexity, and enduring themes.<\/p>\n

Sierra Waggoner spoke with cast members Major Vincent, who portrays Shylock, and Skylar Ewing, who portrays Portia, about their experience stepping into Shakespeare\u2019s world and what modern audiences can take away from the production.<\/p>\n

\"Sierra<\/p>\n

Sierra Waggoner spoke with cast members Major Vincent, who portrays Shylock, and Skylar Ewing, who portrays Portia, about their experience stepping into Shakespeare\u2019s world and what modern audiences can take away from the production.<\/p>\n

Ewing explained the play\u2019s central storyline, noting, \u201cSo this is one of Shakespeare\u2019s comedies. So it’s pretty fun. And so, basically there’s a merchant who lives in Venice and he’s in debt, so he needs to borrow money from a guy named Shylock who is played by Major. And unfortunately, this man is unable to pay back his debts. So then there’s this whole courtroom drama as to whether or not he’ll be able to pay it back, or whether Shylock will cut out a pound of his flesh. So it’s quite an engaging comedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Both<\/p>\n

Both performers shared their personal connection to Shakespeare. Ewing said, \u201cI\u2019ve just always loved Shakespeare a lot. The language is so beautiful and there\u2019s always more to explore in every one of his plays.\u201d Photo by Bret Brookshire<\/p>\n

Vincent reflected on how Shakespeare\u2019s language connects to modern life, sharing, \u201cI think, at least if you take away a lot of the big kind of grandiose, sometimes when you read Shakespeare it feels like you’re just reading nonsense, right? But if you really get into it and understand what you’re reading, it’s thoughts and feelings that we all have it sticks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The actors also spoke about how the play resonates with audiences today. Ewing noted, \u201cWell, I think it’s one of Shakespeare’s more controversial plays, but I think just the willingness to explore and experience some of those more unique themes will really help the audience see Shakespeare in a new and more relevant light.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ewing<\/p>\n

Ewing added perspective on her role as Portia, saying, \u201cShe\u2019s very wealthy, but her father died, so she\u2019s sort of lost in the struggle of marriage. She has to decide who she\u2019ll marry. She\u2019s one of Shakespeare\u2019s most strong, powerful women\u2026 she just takes such control over her own life through really difficult circumstances.\u201d Photo by Bret Brookshire<\/p>\n

Vincent offered insight into his character Shylock, explaining, \u201cHe\u2019s a really cautious person, and at times he appears really coarse and intense. But as time has gone on, the world has kind of changed to see him as a morally gray area person who has been deeply wronged, but has some areas where we can empathize with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"{p}Ewing<\/p>\n

Ewing explained the play\u2019s central storyline, noting, \u201cSo this is one of Shakespeare\u2019s comedies. So it’s pretty fun. And so, basically there’s a merchant who lives in Venice and he’s in debt, so he needs to borrow money from a guy named Shylock who is played by Major. And unfortunately, this man is unable to pay back his debts. So then there’s this whole courtroom drama as to whether or not he’ll be able to pay it back, or whether Shylock will cut out a pound of his flesh. So it’s quite an engaging comedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo by Bret Brookshire<\/p>\n

Ewing added perspective on her role as Portia, saying, \u201cShe\u2019s very wealthy, but her father died, so she\u2019s sort of lost in the struggle of marriage. She has to decide who she\u2019ll marry. She\u2019s one of Shakespeare\u2019s most strong, powerful women she just takes such control over her own life through really difficult circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both performers shared their personal connection to Shakespeare. Ewing said, \u201cI\u2019ve just always loved Shakespeare a lot. The language is so beautiful and there\u2019s always more to explore in every one of his plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vincent added, \u201cI\u2019ve always really wanted to do Merchant of Venice. It\u2019s got really unique characters and I just love that leading cast of characters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Vincent<\/p>\n

Vincent reflected on how Shakespeare\u2019s language connects to modern life, sharing, \u201cI think, at least if you take away a lot of the big kind of grandiose, sometimes when you read Shakespeare it feels like you’re just reading nonsense, right? But if you really get into it and understand what you’re reading, it’s thoughts and feelings that we all have\u2026 it sticks.\u201d Photo by Bret Brookshire<\/p>\n

The Young Shakespeare program continues to serve as both a training ground and a creative space, allowing students to dive deeply into performance, storytelling, and collaboration while making classical theatre accessible to Austin audiences.<\/p>\n

Audiences can experience The Merchant of Venice through Austin Shakespeare\u2019s Young Shakespeare program this season head to austinshakespeare.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Audiences<\/p>\n

Audiences can experience The Merchant of Venice through Austin Shakespeare\u2019s Young Shakespeare program this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For nearly two decades, Austin Shakespeare\u2019s Young Shakespeare program has given emerging actors the opportunity to bring classic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-338612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}