Theatre and Arts

Cornwall's Boconnoc Gardens will be the setting for The Merchant of Venice, one of Shakespeare's many famous plays.

The Festival Players are touring with the production this summer. The members have gone back to basics, as the play features an all male cast.

Men play the male and female roles

Six men will play the 21 parts which include female roles! This may sound unique but this was the norm back in Shakespeare's day.

The touring production may feature actors from all over the UK but the director has very strong Cornish links.

Michael Dyer is the former director of the Minack Open Air Theatre in Cornwall, who says: "It's an engaging tale of both comedy and passion and the central theme delivers the most suspense-filled court scene of all the great plays.

Shylock at work

"In 2005 there were some raised eyebrows when we performed A Midsummer Night's Dream without actresses. Since then we have had all-male productions of Hamlet, As You Like It and Much Ado About Nothing. Audience feedback proved that most people were intrigued by the idea and liked what they saw."

The play is best known for its central character of Jewish moneylender Shylock and his demands for 'a pound of flesh' from merchant Antonio.

Dyer himself takes on the mantle of Shylock – a role that has been performed by such stage and screen luminaries as Sir Laurence Olivier, Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman.

The Festival Players show in the gardens of Boconnoc House near Lostwithiel will take place on Thursday 2 July 2009. It is their only performance in Cornwall and will raise funds for The British Red Cross.